The Game: Gambling between life and death

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.


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Cast

Manuela Federl
Flüchtlingshelfer
Bernd Karmann
SOS Bihac
Zlatan Kovacevic
Flüchtlingshelferin
Zehida Bihorac
Arzt
Gerhard Trabert
Volontär
Jannik Jaschinski
Flüchtlingshelfer
Asim Balic
The Game: Spiel zwischen Leben und Tod - Poster 2

The Game: Gambling between life and death

Manuela Federl

  • Documentary
Production Country / Year
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Germany 2021
Language
en., de. OF mit de. UT
Format
DCP, Color, 90min
1.78:1 (16:9), Discrete 5.1
Original Title
The Game: Spiel zwischen Leben und Tod

Director & Crew

Manuela Federl 2

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.

Filmography

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

Director of Photography
Oliver Indra
Editor
Simon Tasek
Sound
Jeannine Felzmann
Sound Designer
Bernhard Lohner
Music Composer
Kim Planert
Producer
Jens Börner

News

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