Out of Sight
On top of the Bürglkopf mountain in Tyrol, far off the beaten track at an altitude of 1,300 meters, a return counseling center accommodates asylum seekers. With the help of return counseling, but above all under the pressure of indefinite isolation, the aim is to convince them to leave Austria. The idyllic Alpine landscape becomes the stage for a bizarre encounter between refugees, villagers, and tourists, as the nearest mountains in Kitzbühel are primarily used for winter sports. While state-of-the-art gondolas carry vacationers from around the world to the peaks, the residents of the Bürglkopf must endure a three-hour walk to get from the camp to the valley. The film provides an insight into European border policies, which culminate in return centers and deportation camps. (Production note)
“When I tell people where I am, nobody believes me,” says a Kurd. Somewhere in the Tyrolean mountains, in a lonely building guarded by a private security company, lies the Bürglkopf return center, popularly known as the “deportation center”, of the Austrian Ministry of the Interior.
The men who are housed at Bürglkopf have asylum applications that are either open or have been rejected; they are to be persuaded to leave Austria. According to a website for outdoor activities, Bürglkopf offers plenty of peace and quiet, along with a beautiful view from the summit. However, people cannot survive on fresh air alone. In life, you need to have future prospects.
Lisa Polster is not granted permission to film on the grounds of the return center. She persists, makes phone calls, and approaches the center until she is rudely turned away. She meets her interviewees on lush alpine meadows next to cow pastures (“Do you see that cow? She lives better than we do!”) or in the forest, where they are looking for chanterelles or a good internet connection.
In its intelligent montage of conversations with asylum seekers and short interviews with locals (a sheep farmer, a landlady, a priest), Bürglkopf shows how a problem can be geographically removed from the public’s consciousness. The public, when asked, is of course aware that political slogans about integration are absurd in an area where the population density is close to zero. The best thing, it seems, would be for the men at the top of Bürglkopf to disappear into the fresh air. The gondolas that float above their heads, on the way to the scenic peak, are inscribed with beautiful words: “tolerance”, “solidarity”, “respect”. (Anna Katharina Laggner)
(Translation: John Wojtowicz)
Bürglkopf
2024
Austria
78 min
Documentary
somali, arabic, Dari, German, English
German, English