The search for a better life is almost always related to labour and employment. But most migrants have to work for employers who seem to have no idea of decent working conditions.
Instability, insecurity, precariousness in the stories of people whose lives and labour have been influenced by borders and their limits.
Curated by Lena Syrbu
Homicide, Death, Animal Abuse
OTHER THAN THAT, I'M FINE | ONUN HARİCİNDE, İYİYİM
Eren Aksu
Germany, Turkey | 2020, 14 min
Joining a recent wave of immigration from Turkey to Germany, Aslı is new in Berlin. She auditions for the voice of the audio guide for an archaeological museum, facing her with objects from her home country, including a monumental Zeus Altar. Her encounters during the rest of the day further reveal the absurdity of out of placeness.
ETERNAL GUEST | EWIG GAST
Maximilian Karakatsanis
Germany | 2020, 9 min
My grandfather was one of the very first labour migrants of the recruitment agreement between Germany and Greece. A short poetic documentary about longing, family and being a so-called guest worker.
THE BRICKS | LOS LADRILLOS
Tito Montero
Spain | 2020, 19 min
On his first trip to the States, Tito Montero follows Eduardo Galeano’s footsteps through the streets of Chicago to trace a possible route to Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument, symbol of the global struggle for labor rights and origin of the annual celebration, every May 1st, of the International Workers' Day. The words of the filmmaker and his family working history mix with those of the Uruguayan writer and other literary references to compose a personal and collective journey through space and time.
LILI ALONE | DUO LI
Zou Jing
China | 2021, 22 min
Lili, a young mother, lives with her gambler husband in a remote part of Sichuan. Lonely and poor, she heads for the city in a bid to earn enough money to save her dying father.
OSLO
Shady Srour
Israel, Germany, Palestine | 2019, 16 min
Ziad, a Palestinian day labourer, is denied entry into Israel for work that day. The East Jerusalem border guards offer no explanation. Not wanting to return home empty-handed after promising his daughter meat for dinner, he needs to get creative. The journey back is long, and what he encounters in the dry mountains challenges his dignity.