Synopsis

The last school has shut its doors, every other house is empty, there are only rapeseed fields as far as the eye can see.
The last holdovers in the country are faced with the decision: stay or go? “All for the Countryside” traces a host of societal phenomena that are caused by changing dynamics in rural areas and follows four individuals over the course of several years, each of whom give unexpected impulses to life on the countryside. The quartet consists of a mayor who’s stuck between the front lines when parents resort to illegal protest classes to prevent the closing of the local middle school; a farmer who enters the political sector and tries to exercise political pressure in the EU parliament against the practice of land concentration in Europe; and an astronomer who together with a local restaurant owner fights for the protection of our natural skies by attempting to obtain UNESCO status for an unknown village. While each of the quartet has completely different backgrounds, they are united in their strong belief in the power of the individual and the courage to enter uncharted territory with their actions. The film dives deep into their personal microcosms and shows what can be done to prevent the eradication of the European countryside. The story is a profoundly European one, as all across Europe people living in the countryside are faced with similar challenges.