Fremd

“Foreign” (Miriam Fassbender, Germany 2011, Digibeta, 92 min, OV, English subtitles) follows Mohammed on his way from south of the Sahara as he heads for Europe, hoping to cross into the continent illegally by swimming.

Mohamed, the first born of a family of seven, is sent travelling when the family has a need for a provider. The parents sell their cows to fund his way – turning back is not an option.
Although the documentary has a semi-fictional feel, it’s offset by the Direct Cinema-like approach of issuing the protagonist with their own cameras. By accumulating on the screen the subjective self-imaging of her main character, the director hopes to break down the idea of foreignness itself.

With Antje Ehmann, Harun Farocki, Miriam Fassbender

Event in German with simultaneous interpretation