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La forteresse

Right to asylum

La forteresse

For the first time a camera is given unrestricted entry to a holding centre for people who have asked for asylum in Switzerland. Feeling both terror and hope, two hundred men, women and children live there waiting for the autho-rities to make a decision on their case, whilst they live alongside the workers who run the place in an atmosphere mixing empathy and distrust. Days and weeks pass in Vallorbe whilst residents wait for a positive response from the authorities in a country which has traditionally taken people in, but which since 2006 has one of the most restrictive asylum laws in Europe.

Year: 2008
Origin: Sweden
Direction: Fernand Melgar
Production: Fernand Melgar / Association Climage
Script: Claude Muret
Zientifiko kolaborazioa: Alice Sala
Photography: Camille Cottagnoud
Mounting: Karine Sudan
Duración: 100 min.
Contact: Association Climage
Phone: 41 21 648 35 61
Email: climage@climage.ch
Web: www.climage.ch