The material of Vidas Mínimas was shot at the turn of the millennium in a refugee center near Berlin (Hennigsdorf). Ten years later, the film can finally be released without causing harm to the protagonists. Mirela, Uwe, Domingo, and Nicolás come from Colombia and Cuba. They experience limbo. All of them wait years on end for some kind of result, unsure whether it will be integration or deportation. Each person reveals a different story of persecution, marginalization and violence. The film does not invent "brave" asylum seekers, content with what little FRG offers them. Nor does it portray the characters as victims of their own history. Rather, it focuses on the survival strategies that the asylum seekers implement in order to remain in the home without feeling completely imprisoned. The director and cinematographer, also of Latin American descent, in his "minimal" days in the home, investigated the illegal work community of Berlin, including metal shops, cleaning services, and brothels. The result is an introspective look into immigration in Europe.
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