They Teach Us How to Be Happy
It starts with insults, discrimination at work, harassment by the police. When stalkers sent by the government go from threats to assault, one must seek safety in a faraway country. The film documents the experiences of several Sudanese refugees arriving in Switzerland during the 1990s: fastidious transfers from one shelter to another; repetitive hearings with the commissions in charge of asylum seekers; account settlements with the social services that are as incomprehensible as they are meticulous; and the laborious integration in a different society, even when all parties go about it with a lot of goodwill. The refugees are just asking for safety; but the Swiss authorities demand a weighty counterpart to that plea.
- Runtime
- 2h 15m
- Released
- 1996
Details
Release year: 1996
Storyline
It starts with insults, discrimination at work, harassment by the police. When stalkers sent by the government go from threats to assault, one must seek safety in a faraway country. The film documents the experiences of several Sudanese refugees arriving in Switzerland during the 1990s: fastidious transfers from one shelter to another; repetitive hearings with the commissions in charge of asylum seekers; account settlements with the social services that are as incomprehensible as they are meticulous; and the laborious integration in a different society, even when all parties go about it with a lot of goodwill. The refugees are just asking for safety; but the Swiss authorities demand a weighty counterpart to that plea.