Deportation Class

A Film by Carsten Rau & Hauke Wendler. In ger­man and alba­ni­an with ger­man subtitles.

They come in the night, tear fami­lies from their sleep, give them just enough time to pack and put them on a pla­ne: this is the role of the so-cal­led ‚trans­por­ta­ti­on com­man­dos‘ com­pri­sing poli­ce offi­cers and immi­gra­ti­on offi­ci­als. Last year, over 22,000 fai­led asyl­um see­kers were depor­ted from Germany. The docu­men­ta­ry DEPORTATION CLASS pres­ents a com­pre­hen­si­ve view of this sta­te enforce­ment mea­su­re for the first time: from detail­ed plan­ning in the office to night-time ope­ra­ti­ons at asyl­um see­ker accom­mo­da­ti­on blocks and the arri­val of asyl­um see­kers back in their respec­ti­ve home­lands – and the ques­ti­on of what awaits them the­re. Following exten­si­ve rese­arch, the film crew led by Carsten Rau and Hauke Wendler were pre­sent at a coll­ec­ti­ve depor­ta­ti­on in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. A pro­ject favou­red by Interior Minister Lorenz Caffier who was pre­sent in per­son at the depor­ta­ti­ons. Haunting, moving images unli­ke any­thing seen befo­re, repea­ted week after week as hundreds of asyl­um see­kers are flown out, most­ly to the Balkans. Two years ago, Rau and Wendler docu­men­ted how Germany reac­ted to the­se new arri­vals in their hit film ‚Willkommen auf Deutsch‘. With DEPORTATION CLASS, they show whe­re things lead as the mood shifts against the refu­gees. As more and more count­ries are declared to be ‚safe count­ries of ori­gin‘ and basic rights are rest­ric­ted. The film depicts the­se ‚retur­nees‘ as peo­p­le with digni­ty and their own opinions.

 

D 2016, 85 Min.
deutsch-alba­ni­sche OmU

Regie: Carsten Rau, Hauke Wendler

Kamera: Boris Mahlau
Schnitt: Sigrid Sveistrup