Special Flight is a dramatic account of the plight of undocumented foreigners at the Frambois detention center in Geneva, Switzerland, and of the wardens who struggle to reconcile humane values with the harsh realities of a strict deportation system. The film, made in Switzerland, is a heart-wrenching exposé of the contradictions between the country’s compassionate social policies and the intractability of its immigration laws.
Read what critics and journalists have to say about the POV film that will be streaming for free online until July 31, 2013.
“Somber and beautifully modulated….There isn’t a slack moment…everything rings true…The director also shows dignity, not to mention courage.”
— Mike Hale, The New York Times
“The fly-on-the-wall style of the film…recalls the institutional documentaries of Frederick Wiseman (and there are no finer documentaries to recall). Does it have something to say about American issues to an American audience? You bet it does.”
— Robert Lloyd, The Los Angeles Times
“The docu’s subjects get under the skin, and their plight represents one of the major challenges to immigration policy not just in Switzerland, but in the First World as a whole.”
— Jay Weissberg, Variety
“Melgar places the viewer in a detention center near Geneva….There’s an astonishing level of candor on display…[which] opens up the question of immigration to serious reflection.”
— Basil Tsiokos, What (Not) to Doc
Visit the Special Flight companion site to join the conversation about the film, get an update on the subjects, and learn more about asylum seekers around the world.
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