Stranded (2016)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Stranded |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German , English , Arabic |
| Publishing year | 2016 |
| length | 78 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Lisei Caspers |
| script | Lisei Caspers |
| production | Peter Rommel |
| camera | Fabian Klein |
| cut | Jamin Benazzouz |
| occupation | |
| |
Stranded is a documentary by the German film director and screenwriter Lisei Caspers . The film, supported by Nordmedia and the FFA , among others , premiered on January 20, 2016 in the competition of the Max Ophüls Preis film festival in Saarbrücken . The German theatrical release was on April 7, 2016.
content
Over a period of 19 months , the film accompanies five refugees from Eritrea who are quartered in the small East Frisian town of Strackholt in the Aurich district at the end of 2013 . In the predominantly agricultural, largely homogeneous village, the men stand out because of their skin color. Nevertheless, the residents treat the refugees with openness and cordiality. Above all, the retired teacher Helmut Wendt and the journalist Christiane Norda try to help the Africans.
Helmut not only familiarizes Aman, Osman, Ali, Hassan and Mohammed with the German language, but also explains to them the concentrate production and the condom machines in town. Christiane accompanies the men, among other things, when they go to office and supports them in correspondence with the authorities who have to decide on their asylum application . At first, the Eritreans accept the offers of help with enthusiasm and try to integrate in an exemplary manner. They have Boßeln , a sport that is completely unknown to them, explained to them, take part in the traditional Ossiloop and, together with the Strackholtern, follow the German national team's games during the World Cup in Brazil . They see one-euro jobs arranged by the community as an opportunity to escape the isolation in their brick house, which is a bit out of the way.
The everyday life of the Africans in Strackholt is interrupted in the film by memories of their flight. The five men reached northern Germany via Sudan and Libya , after having dangerously crossed the Sahara and the Mediterranean . Ali and Mohammed were held in a prison in Libya for months before they could escape. Aman, the only one in the group who speaks passable English , had to see that several of the companions did not survive the crossing of the desert on completely overcrowded Land Cruisers . The deaf Osman lost two brothers and his father through persecution and flight.
All men fear for their relatives back home and increasingly despair of not being able to support them financially. The long waiting time until their asylum application is processed wears down the refugees, whose initial enthusiasm is increasingly turning into depression . Sometimes they refuse to go on further joint ventures with the villagers and hide in their accommodation. Volunteers also suffer from this development , although they can for the most part understand the behavior of the asylum seekers.
At the end of the film, all five men are granted the right to stay, which relaxes the situation. Osman, who has made several friends in Strackholt, stays in the village; his four compatriots are trying to find a job elsewhere.
background
The film director Lisei Caspers became aware of Christmas 2013 to the refugees when they in Strack Holter Church the Christmas Mass attended and the pastor addressed the arrival of Eritreans in place. After visiting the asylum seekers for the first time, the idea arose to make a film about them, with the focus on the experience of not being part of a community. Lisei Caspers had been made aware of this problem by spending two years in Palestine .
In the course of filming, however, Caspers deviated from her plan: “Originally, my film [...] was supposed to be about home. What does my East Frisian home mean to me? And what does home mean for the newcomers? […] During the process, however, I realized that the power of the film does not lie in the conflict between East Frisia and Africa . It was much more important to accompany the refugees and to shed light on the interaction between volunteer German helpers and the Eritreans. "
Reviews
The documentary was received in many German-speaking media and received good to very good reviews. A selection:
“'Stranded' by Lisei Caspers [is] a wonderful case study about five Eritreans in an East Frisian village. The director has created a diverse, multi-faceted and very interesting film portrait. 'Stranded' is haunting and human, a look at refugee issues beyond ingrained clichés. "
“Lisei Caspers' film makes you angry, but above all sad. About the fact that enthusiasm, gratitude and the will to learn and integrate are wasted when refugees are forced to spend month after month doing nothing. "
“'Stranded' does not convey an idea of persecution, escape and trauma beyond what the five report shortly before the camera. […] Nevertheless, 'Stranded' is a meritorious project, as the film illustrates the bigotry of a society that preaches integration and at the same time places the refugees in nowhere. 20 kilometers from the next small town without access to language courses and jobs. "
“The filmmaker emphasizes, not without humor, the leisurely provinciality of her setting and makes certain quirky rituals of the natives seem almost exotic from the Eritrean perspective. [...] All in all, however, 'Stranded' is a pleasantly nuanced, thoroughly optimistic film and therefore represents a welcome contribution to the current media debate. "
Web links
- Stranded in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Stranded at filmportal.de (with trailer and photo gallery)
- Stranded at the Max Ophüls Prize film festival
- Stranded ( memento from April 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on Norddeutscher Rundfunk , with trailer
- Interview with Lisei Caspers in the ZDF program aspekte
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for stranded . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; December 2015; test number: 156 879 K).
- ↑ Interview with Lisei Caspers (director) stranded.pandorafilm.de (accessed on April 9, 2016)
- ^ Rüdiger Suchsland: Case study beyond clichés. SWR2, April 5, 2016, accessed April 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Kathleen Hildebrand: Life in pause mode. Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 6, 2016, accessed on April 9, 2016 .
- ^ Christiane Peitz: Last exit Strackholt. Der Tagesspiegel, April 6, 2016, accessed on April 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Tim Lindemann: Critique of Stranded. epd film, March 29, 2016, accessed April 9, 2016 .