Somewhere in this deserted landscape along the enormous border, which separates the United States from Mexico, a small community of Americans lives their daily lives in the shadow of the fence, erected to protect them from clandestine immigration.
They all monitor the traces left by the crossing migrants. Stirring shadows on surveillance cameras, skeletal remains fading in the sun or mere footprints in the sand: the ghostly presence of those who are simply passing through becomes an obsession for some of the residents.
Each in their own way is affected by this immense scar, which scores the horizon, and has become a breeding ground for myths and fantasies. Some barricade themselves off behind a multitude of surveillance gadgets, dominated by a fear of the unknown. Others feel the need to actively defend their territory, finding a purpose to their often solitary lives. Others, outraged by the continuous monitoring of the border and the intrusion into their privacy, try to help migrants in need.
Endearing and complex, they disclose their anguish, at the forefront of a society that is closing itself off.
SCREENINGS & AWARDS
2014 World Premiere: Semaine de la critique – Festival del film Locarno
2015 Journées de Soleure
2015 International Film Festival Rotterdam
2015 BAFICI
2015 BELDOCS
2015 Planete + Doc Film Festival Varsovie
2015 Fast Forward HRFF Podgorica
2015 Forum of International and European Research on Immigration Torino
2015 FIFF Namur
2015 DocsDF Mexico
2015 Raindance Film Festival
2015 CineMigrante Buenos Aires
2016 Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara
2016 Festival International du Film Documentaire Millenium
2016 Lake Festival India
2016 One World Romania
2016 DOK Leipzig
PRESS
Reviews: Variety (EN), Filmexplorer(EN),Crispy Sharp Film (EN) Tagblatt (DE)
DIRECTORS’S BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY
Stéphanie Barbey
After studying international relations, Stéphanie Barbey worked for several years in development and journalism. Then she took a training in documentary filmmaking at Ateliers Varan in Paris, before coming back in Geneva where she has been directing and working on several movies.
Filmography (selection)
2014 BROKEN LAND, documentary, 75 min. co-directed with Luc Peter
2012 PASSE-MOI LES JUMELLES, LE SAVOIR-FER, documentary, 26 min. co-directed with Luc Peter
2010 CONSTRUIRE LA SUISSE, documentary, 12 min
2009 PORTRAIT D’UN MARECHAL-FERRANT, documentary, 12 min.
2008 SCIENCE SUISSE, PORTRAIT DE BERNARD HIRSCHEL, documentary, 12 min.
2007 MAGIC RADIO, documentary 54 and 83 min. co-directed with
Luc Peter
Luc Peter has been directing and producing documentaries since 1995. Camera operator on most of his films, Luc Peter is also director of photography for other directors, among others, ON DIRAIT LE SUD by Vincent Pluss (Swiss Film Prize Award 2003). Since 2001, he is associate producer at Intermezzo Films.
Filmography (selection)
2014 BROKEN LAND, documentary, 75 min. co-directed with Stéphanie Barbey
2010 LES ANNEES SCHWARZENBACH, documentary, 54 min.
2007 MAGIC RADIO, documentary 54 and 83 min. co-directed with Stéphanie Barbey
2004 LA RIBOT DISTINGUIDA, documentary, 63 min.
2002 GILLES JOBIN : LE VOYAGE DE MOEBIUS, documentary, 53 min.
2000 RECORD PLAYER / CHRISTIAN MARCLAY, documentary, 42 min.
2000 A L’EST DES REVES, documentary, 52 min.
With the artistic collaboration of Peter Mettler
Born in 1958 in Toronto, Canada. Joint Swiss and Canadian citizenship. 1977-82 Attends Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, film and photography studies. Lives and works in Switzerland and Canada as filmmaker, musician and photographer.
Filmography (selection)
2012 THE END OF TIME, documentary, 114 min.
2009 PETROPOLIS-AERIAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ALBERTA TAR SANDS, experimental, 40 min.
2009 PETROPOLIS-AERIAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ALBERTA TAR SANDS, experimental, 40 min.
2002 GAMBLING, GODS AND LSD, documentary, 180 min.
PRODUCER’S BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY
Luc Peter
luc@intermezzofilms.ch
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Intermezzo Films
28 rue de Bâle 1201 Genève / 022 741 47 47 info@intermezzofilms.ch
http://intermezzofilms.ch/
Intermezzo Films was founded in 1993 to produce feature and documentary films in a spirit of freedom and artistic standards, to foster innovative and creative movies. The company is committed to be an independent entity, close to the films it produces.With more than 50 films, Intermezzo Films is today one of the leading production companies in French-speaking Switzerland.
CREDITS
Directed by Stéphanie Barbey and Luc Peter
with the artistic collaboration of Peter Mettler
Production Intermezzo Films, Aline Schmid
In coproduction with: RTS, SRG SSR, ARTE G.E.I.E.
Image Peter Mettler, Luc Peter
Sound Jürg Lempen
Music Franz Treichler
Editing Florent Mangeot, Peter Mettler, Vincent Pluss
Sound editing and re-recording mix Etienne Curchod
Picture design Patrick Lindenmaier
Coproduction advisor Gabriela Bussmann
Production team Patricia Candido Trinca, Catherine Muller, Isabelle Zampiero
Camera assistant Camille Budin
Technical support Pablo Briones, Anthony Altaras
Assistant sound editing Jérôme Cuendet
Foley artist Gadou Naudin
Foley recording Bruno Tarrière
Transcription and translation Kevin Whiteley, Nina Kaelin, Rudolf Nadler
Graphic design Jeff Gaudinet
Web developper Raphaël Arbuz
Swiss distribution Xenix Film
with the support of
Office fédéral de la culture (DFI)
Cinéforom et la Loterie Romande
Fonds culturel SUISSIMAGE
Pour-cent culturel Migros
République et canton de Genève
Ville de Genève, Département de la culture et du sport
Succès Passage Antenne
FONDATION SUISA
Stage Pool FOCAL / Fondation Ernst Göhner
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
What becomes of a democracy that builds walls to protect itself from immigration?
A feared immigration upon which the country was originally built… What consequences does this approach have for those who are supposedly being protected? How does this affect their behavior and perception of each other?Through the eyes of a handful of U.S. citizens living at the foot of the fence that
separates them from Mexico, a bigger picture of how our societies define identity and question our future is revealed.
By placing our camera on the desirable side of the border, we explore the real, as
well as imaginary effects of this supposed protection, which has ultimately become
a confinement. By separating oneself from the “other”, by losing real contact with that “other”, the sense of fear is reinforced, leading to increasingly irrational and absurd behavior.
Broken Land is a film about paranoia, fear and confinement. A metaphor, as much visual, as political, of the reaction of our planet’s largest democracies, when faced with the global phenomenon of migration – be it in the United States, or in Europe.
Far from a journalistic investigation, this film proposes a philosophical wandering, an invitation to explore one’s own relationship with migration. Broken Land is a film that dares to ask the question: what if this desert microcosm was an indicator of our own future ?
