The five cardinal points

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Movie
German title The five cardinal points
Original title The five cardinal points
Country of production Austria
original language Spanish , English
Publishing year 2009
length 94 minutes
Rod
Director Fridolin Schönwiese
script Fridolin Schönwiese
production Mischief Films , Ralph Wieser , Peter Janecek (production management)
camera Fridolin Schönwiese, Rafael Ortega
cut Karina Ressler

The five cardinal points is an Austrian documentary by the director Fridolin Schönwiese . The film accompanies two Mexican guest workers in the United States and shows their lives as illegal immigrants , their fears, hopes and loneliness.

content

Tres Valles and Kansas City - two places that couldn't be more different, connected by people like Maria Esther and Miguel. Both left their families and homes for a future worth living and emigrated from Tres Valles to Kansas City . There both of them lead a life on the fringes of society, fighting against loneliness and rising unemployment , which hits them particularly hard as illegal immigrants. Driven by their dreams and longings, they follow the fifth direction of the compass, the hope for a better life. The placelessness in migration , the in-between and being lost, are her companions.

Based on the two protagonists, the film tells the story of the inhabitants of the Mexican village of Tres Valles, in the Veracruz region , who have been rooted here for generations and who have always been farmers and artisans . The cultivation of sugar cane , pineapple and rice enabled modest prosperity until a few years ago .

As everywhere else, Mexico was also connected to the global economy , which was accompanied by a drop in raw material prices. The families could no longer support themselves with the wages of the local sugar cane factory alone and poverty spread over this area like a long shadow . There is no prospect of future prospects in their own country and so many families have no choice but to separate from each other and to go to the north , the USA , legally or illegally to look for work .


Director Fridolin Schönwiese shows the touching story of the two and the human drama of guest worker life on the fringes of society in impressive and intimate images. In a constant cycle of departure and return, they fight against rising unemployment in the wake of the economic crisis and the lost and in between in migration.

background

Director Fridolin Schönwiese got the idea for this documentary through a friend through whom he got to know the Mexican village of Tres Valles. He was impressed by the history of this place and its inhabitants, who are connected to the USA in a special way.

The production costs amounted to 100,000 euros .

Reviews

At a panel discussion on November 4, 2010 in Duisburg, Ann Katrin Thöle said: “The old hope that the experience of film could overcome divisions and have an integrating effect across social and societal boundaries is not fulfilled here. And Ott is certainly speaking from experience when he says: 'That is the dramatic thing about the documentary, that you (again) destroy relationships in the end.' "

Festivals

Prices

  • Int. Film Festival Innsbruck 2010: Documentary Film Award
  • Duisburg Film Week 2010: 3sat-Documentary Film Award

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ann Katrin Thöle The five cardinal points at duisburger-filmwoche.de, accessed on August 25, 2017.