Martin Krenn & Oliver Ressler
Martin Krenn, Oliver Ressler
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On the occasion of the global artist event on December 18, we will launch the film “Border Crossing Services” (51 min., 2001) online on the website (see the link below).
Border Crossing Services
In the last two decades, the countries in the Global North implemented restrictive immigration regulations to keep migrants and asylum-seekers away from their borders. This tendency of sealing-off is being reinforced in times of a global financial and economic crisis. Today, there is practically no chance for impoverished people from the Global South to legally migrate to the countries in the North, though the US and the EU have to be taken responsible for this crisis. Therefore, “border crossing services” often become the only possibilities for migrants to reach their desired destinations. Our film “Border Crossing Services” (51 min, 2001) highlights positive aspects of terms such as “smuggler” or “trafficker”, which have been given a negative connotation through the dominant political and medial discourse after the fall of the Berlin wall. The actual act of “smuggling” is not presented as a criminal exploitation of asylum seekers; instead, we highlight the service character of this business made necessary through European and American politics of exclusion.
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