DIE BAULICHE MASSNAHME

In early 2016, Austrian politicians become fearful. They are afraid that the “refugee invasion”, which is on its way via the Balkan route into the European Union, could bury the small Alpine republic underneath it. Preventive and populist measures are taken, or rather: intended, or rather: planned; or at the very least considered. Ironically, it is on the Brenner pass, a geo-ethno-politically highly sensitive border, which has always been fairly open, that a fence is to be erected. The ensuing uproar is to be expected. But the Austrian documentary filmmaker Geyrhalter enters into the fray with his usual calmness, looks around, and documents. Along the Brenner pass, he walks to and fro between North and South Tyrol, between Austria and Italy, talking to hunters, ski hut managers, Senegalese construction workers, dairy transporters and organic farmers. The plurality of voices and opinions paints a picture that embraces far more than just the small region from where they originate: The Border Fence is not just about Europe’s isolationist policies, but about global power relations and the essence of humanity. And all this using a few meters of wire mesh fence as its starting point… a typical Geyrhalteresque achievement.