The Fortress

Synopsis

Switzerland has just passed the most restrictive asylum law in all of Europe. This documentary film respectfully directs our attention to a reception centre for asylum-seekers. At this austere transit facility, 200 men, women and children wait after a journey – sometimes taken at the risk of their lives – until the government decides their fate. At close range the film shows the daily sorting process and, with emotion and humour, gives us an unorthodox look at the critical issues that face Europe today regarding the flux of migration and selective immigration as a curtailment measure.

Director Biography

Born in 1961 in Tangiers, Morocco. Joint Swiss and Spanish citizenship. Since 1963 lives in Lausanne. Self-taught. Since 1985 independent director and producer. 2006 Awarded Swiss Film Prize, Best Documentary for “EXIT, le droit de mourir” (EXIT, The Right To Die).