Synopsis
The film accompanies the Wadan employees throughouttheir 18-month struggle for the preservation of their shipyard.
A film about the value of work in a globalized world.
Wismar, 45,000 inhabitants. The income of every third family depends on the Wadan shipyard, the only major company in the region.
In August 2008 a Russian investor takes over the old, traditional business and its future seems secured. But then the financial and economic crisis hits the Hanseatic City at its very centre: more than 5,000 jobs are at stake. A race against time ensues.
We accompany a group of welders through turbulent months and bear witness to the fact that losing one‘s jobs means so much more than losing one‘s income. We show the workers, the owners and the liquidators struggling to preserve the shipyard, we experience their ups and downs between powerlessness, anger, sadness and hope. The Wadan shipyard goes down and is reopened under a new ownership and a new name. Some of our protagonists return to their company, but under much worse conditions.
The film examines what is left after this crisis.
