BASED DOWN SOUTH

BASED DOWN SOUTH (WIR SITZEN IM SÜDEN), 2010
Germany | HDD, Color, 88’ | German, Turkish
Director: Martina Priessner

They introduce themselves as Ralf Becker or Ilona Manzke on the phone. All of them are kind, patient and proficient in their jobs. Occasionally, when customers ask about the location of the company they work for, they respond with, “we are in the south”. Indeed, the call center agents do have a large, air-conditioned office in the south, in the middle of Istanbul. A number of German companies, from Lufthansa to Neckermann, have found a low-paid and skilled workforce here. The common denominator between Bülent, Murat, Fatoş and Çiğdem is that they have spent their years of childhood and youth in Germany. Even after so many years, they don’t feel like they belong in their parents’ hometown, and instead choose to create a “Second Germany” in Istanbul., Color, 88’ | German, Turkish choose to create a “Second Germany” in Istanb