The Miraculous Transformation of the Working Class into Foreigners
Dir: Samir, 95 mins

As in all industrialized European countries, social democrats and trade unions led the workers’ movement. And – although not simultaneously – these institutions had lost their impact all over western Europe by the 1980s. Racist policies succeeded in driving a wedge between immigrant and native workers. This factor, together with the de-industrialization at the end of the 1970s, led to the decline of the classical workers' movement in Switzerland as well. Today nobody talks about the ‘working class’ anymore. The term ‘worker’ has become synonymous with ‘foreigner’. Filmmaker Samir uses private family photos, animations, music clips and unseen archive material, to tell the story of migration from Switzerlands southern neighbours in an entertaining way, from the post-war period to the present day.

Screening followed by a Q&A