A documentary film by Edgar Hagen
Original length: 107’
Series: 2 x 52’ oder 2 x 50’
Short: 51’ oder 50’
Release planned for: Late 2025 / early 2026
Why do so many people become refugees? With a legendary European TV reporter, I investigate the long-term effects of western interference in countries where war never ends.
With 40 years of experience in the Middle East, journalist and TV reporter Ulrich Tilgner returns on his last trip to the conflict zones of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Rojava in Syria. Together, we meet witnesses, survivors, and resistants of these ongoing wars - many of them women. They are among those who suffer the most, and play an essential role in the hope for a self-determined society. But even though most people want to stay in their homeland, many have to flee.
In dialogue with people on the ground and with Ulrich Tilgner, I examine the responsibility of the USA and Europe in the emergence of the cycle of violence and its consequences. I am becoming increasingly aware of the mechanisms that now threaten to divide Western democracies.
| Locations | Afghanistan, Iraq, Rojava in Syria, Niger, Greece, Serbia, Switzerland |
| Languages | English, German, Pashto, Dari, Arabic, Kurdish, Kanuri, French |
| Featuring | Ulrich Tilgner |
| Written and directed by | Edgar Hagen |
| Voiceover | Edgar Hagen, in cooperation with Fanni Hatházi and Mark Daniels, Narrated by Mathis Landwehr |
| Director of Photography | Börres Weiffenbach |
| Additional Cinematographers | Soran Khateri / Michael Hammon / Michael Terhorst |
| Sound Recordist | Mathias Hefel |
| Additional Sound | Jean-Pierre Gerth |
| Editors | Christian Büttiker, Audrey Maurion |
| Music by | Tomek Kolczynski |
| Sound Design | Oscar van Hoogevest |
| Sound Mix | Jörg Höhne |
| Colorgrading | Hannes Rüttimann |
| Archive Producers | Nicolas Laube, Monika Preischl |
| Production Managers | Edgar Hagen, Gudula Meinzolt |
| Afghanistan: Eamal Sardar / Iraq: Mohanad Hayal, Reman Sadani, Nawaf Doukhi / North East Syria: Mizgin Ibin, Meral Çiçek / Niger: Aïcha Macky, Ibrahim Manzo Diallo / Serbia: Hana Bulic | |
| Creative Producer | Fanni Hatházi |
| Produced by | Vollbild Film GmbH, Elsässerstrasse 248, 4056 Basel, Switzerland |
| Producers | Edgar Hagen, Mathias Hefel |
| In Coproduction with | Schweizer Fernsehen SRF, Redaktion Urs Augstburger |
| Supported by | Bundesamt für Kultur BAK, Sektion Film / Media Desk Suisse / Swisslos-Fond Basel-Stadt, Swisslos-Fond Basel-Stadt / Baselland / Fondation SUISSIMAGE / Volkart Stiftung / UBS Kulturstiftung / Succès cinéma / Succès passage antenne |
| Developed with support of | dok.incubator 2024 |