Club owner Bernd Karmann and his girlfriend, director Manuela Federl, are founders of the association Lautlos e. V. which is aimed at carrying out an aid transport to Bosnia.
They would like to help, however, when arriving in Bosnia, they are confronted with unimaginable conditions: Children living under tarpaulins and in ruins. People who are left with nothing to eat, no perspective whatsoever, and not one bit of hope. They are living in a constant fight for bare survival.
In their conversations with refugees, they discover that everything revolves around THE GAME - the attempt to cross the border illegally. During such, they are humiliated, abused, insulted and even beaten by the Croatian police and by self-formed militias. Not only young men take part in this game, but whole families attend the dangerous journey every day.
Manuela and Bernd gradually get to know the other players in this GAME. Bosnia is a poor country and so the smugglers also play along. People-smuggling is a lucrative business at the EU’s external border. Bosnian NGOs and private individuals also get involved. They try to help the refugees and often become victims of their racist fellow citizens themselves. International organizations are also observed as they fail miserably at their tasks.
Manuela and Bernd try to find a balance between all these players. They try to understand, to help, however, eventually find themselves, as players of the GAME.
The Game: Gambling between life and death
Manuela Federl
Born in 1981 in Trostberg. Studied Languages, Economics and Cultural Studies with an emphasis in Ibero-Romance Studies at the University of Passau and the Universidad de Concepción in Chile. Work as a journalist for television and print and as a television presenter. Trained as a travel and mountain guide. Active as freelance writer and director.
2012 ALPINE HÜTTENTRÄUME, TV-Dokumentarserie
2014 OSCAR, Kurzdokumentarfilm
2015 – 2020 HOAGASCHT, TV-Dokumentarserie
2015 AUF DEN SPUREN DER SAMEN IM LAPPLAND, TV-Dokumentation
2016 AUF HANNIBALS SPUREN, TV-Dokumentation
FREMDE NACHBARN, Dokumentarfilm
2016 HUNDERT STUNDEN LESBOS, Kurzdokumentarfilm
ZWISCHEN GRAT UND GRENZEN. WEGE ÜBER DIE ALPEN, TV-Dokumentation
2017 GRENZENLOS DIE WELT ENTDECKEN: KÄRNTEN, TV-Dokumentation
2019 WEIHNACHTEN IN MARIAZELL, TV-Dokumentation
2019 ZEITZEUGEN. DREI KITZBÜHELER ORIGINALE, TV-Dokumentation
2020 – 21 BERGWELTEN, TV-Dokumentarserie
2020 – 21 HEIMATLEUCHTEN, TV-Dokumentarserie
2020 DAS TAL DER FREIGEISTER – ENTLANG DER PIESTING, TV-Dokumentation
2021 THE GAME. SPIEL ZWISCHEN LEBEN UND TOD, Dokumentarfilm HOF 2021