Experiencing Interruptions?

NEAR OUR BORDER

A farmer reports on the sustained violence he observes as a local resident near the Bosnian-Croatian border. Ahmad and his family try to cross this border on a daily basis, where they are subjected to brutal attacks and illegal pushbacks by the Croatian border police. Such cruelties are also observed by Ermin, a member of the voluntary mountain rescue. Again and again, he saves people from otherwise fatal treks through the mountains.

A German doctor also witnesses these acts of violence through her work as a volunteer.

  • Martina Troxler
    Director
  • Martina Troxler
    Writer
  • Anna Filippina Miggelbrink
    Producer
  • Fredrick de la Houssaye
    Key Cast
    Camera, Editor
  • alex Kraudelt
    Key Cast
    Editor
  • Jean Daniel Tömör
    Key Cast
    Sound (Datenbankwerknummer:28895585)
  • Maxime de Martin
    Colorist
  • Chris Geronimo
    Soundmix
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    GRENZNÄHE
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    21 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 1, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    1,500 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Martina Troxler

Martina Troxler has always loved to discover and capture stories, cultures and people in different environments. Growing up in Switzerland, the fascination of the power and the rawness of nature has always been a part of her. The many things she has heard and seen while traveling inspired her to visually implement them as she discovered her passion for moving images and everything connected with them.
She studied media science, art history and film studies in Zurich and Berlin and gained her first experience in a film production. Since then she was working as a freelancer for numerous directors from all over the world and she started to write and direct her own pieces.
Martina is excited to bring stories to life and wants to give people a voice through her documentary work.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

In late 2020 I went for the first time with my Producer Anna Pina to Bosnia-Herzegovina. With other people we began a humantarian project to supply migrants with stoves and wood, which are living outside the refugee camp structure.

I documented our work and the work of other NGO's when I was the first confronted by heavy injured migrants who experienced violence at the EU border. I was reading about the violence before, but I never would have imagined the extend and traumatization of this illegal and systematic acts.

Anna and I felt the urge to make a film about it and listen to different people who are confronted with border violence every day in their own way. We were very fortunate to meet our protagonists, which were willing to allows us to document them in very existential times.
The challenge of this film was the human cruelty we had to witness in so many different ways: the separation of families, the criminalization of support, or the fear of being excluded by the community if you sympathize with migrants.
It was hard for us to deal with the powerlessness of not being able to do anything about it.

We filmed with very small equipment and no faces to create an appropriate and trustful enviroment. We felt a deep respect that we were allowed to accompany our protagonists in such an indescribable hard and dangerous time of their life.

This film will always be special to us, as we could give this warm people a voice that are often not heard. They uncovered their truth which gave us complete piece of the situation.

Martina Troxler