Coming to PBS’s POV today, Monday, August 17: NEULAND
Anna Thommen’s look at the process of cultural integration debut at Zurich in 2013. Other fests have included Berlin, DOK.fest Munich, and DocPoint, among others.
Over the course of two years, Thommen’s sharply observed verité film profiles several students in one of the special classes mandated by the Swiss government for asylum seekers to facilitate integration within the larger society, a program that simultaneously provides a leg up to newcomers while insisting on the preservation of Swiss culture and languages in the face of rising immigration. Wisely focused on just three adolescent students, Ehsanullah from Afghanistan and siblings Nazlije and Ismail from Serbia, and their frank teacher/de facto father figure, Mr Zingg, the film details the youths’ challenging backgrounds, the factors that led them to migrate, their struggles with language, and balancing sometimes unattainable aspirations for careers and wealth with pragmatism, crafting a complex portrait of immigration, assimilation, and Swiss national identity.
what (not) to doc 