Wanakam

Viele tamilische Flüchtlinge haben auch nach Jahren in der Schweiz noch immer keinen geregelten Aufenthaltsstatus. Ihr Leben wird zermürbt im Kampf um Bewilligungen und Arbeit, um Reiseerlaubnis und Bildung. Wanakam erzählt von Nixsan im Kinderheim, der seit seiner Flucht aus Sri Lanka verstummt ist, von Sasi, die sich vor Heimweh verzehrt, von Mena auf ihrem beschwerlichen Weg in die Selbständigkeit und von Aiya, der seiner Einsamkeit mit traurigen Liedern entflieht. Wanakam stellt Menschen in den Mittelpunkt, denen die Einwanderungspolitik ausser Billigjobs wenig Chancen auf Integration bietet.

The number of Tamil refugees who have been seeking asylum in Switzerland over the past twenty year reflects the intensity of the civil war in Sri Lanka. Today there are about 35,000 Tamil men and women living in Switzerland. Calculated on the basis of population, this is by far the largest Tamil exile community in Europe. In the meantime, most of them have regular residence permits for Switzerland. But those who do not fulfill all the requirements – because they earn too little – are caught in a legally uncertain residence situation – even after many years in the country. Their lives are worn down by the constant fight for permits and work, authorization to travel and education. WANAKAM tells the story of Nixsan, put in a home for children, who has stopped talking since he fled from Sri Lanka; of Sasi, who is consumed with homesickness; of Mena, on her difficult path to independence and of Aiya, who escapes his loneliness with sad songs. Wanakam focuses on people who benefit from Swiss immigration policies only because they provide cheap labor. Their chances of social integration are almost nil.

82 Minuten,2005
Drehbuch und Regie: Thomas Isler
Produktion: Freihändler Filmproduktionen www.freihaendler.ch