BASED DOWN SOUTH

Cinema Documentary | TR/DE (2010) | 88min

They answer the phone as Ralf Becker and Ilona Manzke. Friendly, patient and competent, they work for a company based “down south” as they explain to customers enquiring as to the business location. But these call center agents who speak perfect German with endearing regional accents are actually based a little further south than their customers might imagine, namely in huge, open-plan air-conditioned offices in Istanbul. German companies from Lufthansa to Neckermann have come here to find qualified staff for low wages. Bülent (30), Murat (39), Fatoş (43) and Çiğdem (33) share the memories of their childhood and youth in Germany. Now all of them live in Istanbul, three of them against their will. Bülent was deported five years ago; Fatoş and Murat were forced to go to Turkey by their parents. 20 years later it is very uncertain if they can make their dream of returning to Germany come true. Only Çiğdem, the young manager with a German passport freely opted for a life in Istanbul. But even after decades in their parents’ country of origin, the other three have never really managed to make it their home. Instead, they have constructed a “surrogate Germany” for themselves.

Director: Martina Priessner

Editor: Bettina Blickwede
Sound: Robert Kellner
Production: Claudia Wolf, pangeafilm
Commissioning Editor: Frank Seyberth, ZDF „Das kleine Fernsehspiel“

DVD sales: absolut medien

Nominated for Grimme Preis 2011 (Information / Culture)

World Premiere: 29th International Filmfestival Istanbul 2010
Premiere Germany: 54th International Dokfestvial Leipzig (German Competition) 2010
Standfoto Wir sitzen im Süden - Kamerafrau Anne Misselwitz
Standfoto Wir sitzen im Süden - Kamerafrau Anne Misselwitz
Standfoto Wir sitzen im Süden - Kamerafrau Anne Misselwitz
Standfoto Wir sitzen im Süden - Kamerafrau Anne Misselwitz
Standfoto Wir sitzen im Süden - Kamerafrau Anne Misselwitz