Gegen den Strom - Abgetaucht in Venezuela

Thomas Walter has been sought by the German authorities for 25 years for being a "left-wing radical terrorist" and "a member of a terrorist organization". In early 2017, he unexpectedly resurfaced from a life underground to apply for asylum in Venezuela. Since resurfacing, Thomas has collaborated with Pablo Mal Élevé, a Berlin singer and musician from the band Irie Révoltés, on a transatlantic music project. For months on end, they send each other sketches of songs and lyrics, compose and write songs together to raise awareness for and motivate engagement on their political issues: a world without borders, hierarchies and exploitation. A life against right-wing radical ideas, discrimination, racism and for resistance. The director of the film, whose daughter is the niece of Thomas Walter, travels to Thomas in the Andes in Venezuela in March 2019 to learn of his life underground, on the lam and as a criminal and his current life in Venezuela with its precarious political situation. Shortly after arriving to film, Pablo Mal Élevé pays Thomas a visit to finish the album they began together remotely. Given the current situation in Venezuela, where power outages, food shortages, a lack of basic supplies and a tense political climate make the plan all the more difficult, but simultaneously unites the polar opposites in solidarity. "Against the Tide" is a film about a country in upheaval, about the catastrophic situation in Venezuela, about a suspected "left-wing terrorist," who has lived in hiding for over 25 years. About being on the lam from German investigators and about a transatlantic music project dealing with left-wing dreams, both those that have burst and those that still persist. A project that highlights resistance, political engagement and the power of belief in a music's ability to affect societal change.