The Border Fence

The Border Fence

2DCS/ES12
Director:Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Premiere:10. March 2019
Length:112 minutes
Genre:Document

Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Plans were made to build a fence at the Brenner Pass border crossing between Austria and Italy in order to tighten the process and control the number of arriving migrants. The locals, accustomed to the tranquility of the Alps, become witnesses to the changes that are shaking Europe.

Rather than refugees, the film presents a number of Austrians who meet them on a daily basis. They are given the space to explain, in an uninterrupted monologue in their home environment, why the situation is not black and white, and that neither uncertainty nor fears about the future stand in the way of feeling empathy for those who are fleeing war. Through these testimonies, the film outlines the difference between an uncompromising system solution and the position of individuals who deal with the migrants as human beings and ask themselves about the sort of future awaiting Europe.

Length: 112 min

Year: 2018
Local premiere date: 10. March 2019
World premiere date: 7. September 2018

Country of origin:

  • Austria

Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Plans were made to build a fence at the Brenner Pass border crossing between Austria and Italy in order to tighten the process and control the number of arriving migrants. The locals, accustomed to the tranquility of the Alps, become witnesses to the changes that are shaking Europe.

Rather than refugees, the film presents a number of Austrians who meet them on a daily basis. They are given the space to explain, in an uninterrupted monologue in their home environment, why the situation is not black and white, and that neither uncertainty nor fears about the future stand in the way of feeling empathy for those who are fleeing war. Through these testimonies, the film outlines the difference between an uncompromising system solution and the position of individuals who deal with the migrants as human beings and ask themselves about the sort of future awaiting Europe.

Year: 2018
Local premiere date: 10. March 2019
World premiere date: 7. September 2018

Country of origin:

  • Austria