IN MEMORIAM

Mória, summer 2020. It is hot between the tents, even hotter in the tents. The residents of the hopelessly overcrowded camp are suffering from inadequate sanitary infrastructures, the latent danger of the coronavirus, the associated exit restrictions and lockdowns, internal camp tensions and acts of violence. In addition, the inhabitants are confronted with fascist attacks from outside, as well as overburdened Greek authorities and a lack of willingness on the part of the European Union to solve this humanitarian catastrophe on a political level. The camp is becoming a powder keg where families, pregnant women, children, unaccompanied minors and single men of diverse backgrounds are forced to live together under the most adverse circumstances, condemned to wait in uncertainty. The tensions ultimately erupt in a catastrophic fire on the night of 9 September 2020.

In the midst of all this, IN MEMORIAM tells of a developing friendship between a volunteer from Austria and a young refugee from Afghanistan who has not yet lost his hope for a better future. Over a period of five months, the film shows the continuously worsening humanitarian catastrophe on Lesbos. The everyday life, worries and problems of the people stranded in the camp are captured in intense and oppressive images of Elisabeth's and Ali's smartphone cameras.

  • Martin Lintner
    Director
  • Elisabeth Pointner
    Director
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 3 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 1, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Austria
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Martin Lintner, Elisabeth Pointner

Elisabeth R. M. Pointner studies Cultural and Social Anthropology (BA) as well as Educational Sciences (BA) at the University of Vienna. Her research focuses on flight, migration and integration of refugees. Since 2018 her regional research focus has been on Greece, in particular on the Greek island of Lesbos, where she completed a voluntary service in 2020 in the former PIKPA and Mória refugee camps.

Martin Lintner is a freelance filmmaker, editor and graphic designer. He has a Master degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology from the University of Vienna with a special focus on visual anthropology and anthropological filmmaking in theory and practice. Since 2010 he is the artistic and managing co-director of the ethnocineca – International Documentary Film Festival Vienna.

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Director Statement

IN MEMORIAM can best be understood as a "found footage documentary", compiled of unique material from Elisabeth's and Ali's smartphone cameras. They were filming with no intention in mind to create a full feature documentary out of their shots. In this way the film reveals previously unseen impressions and viewpoints on the dramatic events in Mória and Kara Tepe. The political appeal and moral unease are not directly inscribed in the images. Instead, in the tradition of direct cinema, the film opens a space for the audience to form their own thoughts and opinions about what is shown and said, while they participate directly in the events in an unexpectedly personal way - first through Elisabeth‘s, then through Ali‘s camera. IN MEMORIAM is a haunting contemporary witness to a European political failure and a human drama, that refrains from using common narratives or imperatives. We accompany Elisabeth and Ali and thus become witnesses to contemporary images of a reality that should not actually exist.