L'abri
The Shelter
It is winter at an emergency shelter for the homeless in Lausanne. Every night at the door of this little-known basement facility the same entry ritual takes place, resulting in confrontations, which can sometimes turn violent. Those on duty at the shelter have the difficult task of “triaging the poor”: the women and children first, then the men. Although the total capacity at the shelter is 100, only 50 “chosen ones” will be admitted inside and granted a warm meal and a bed.
Director's Biography
Fernand Melgar, born into a family of Spanish exiles in 1961 in Morocco, emigrated to Switzerland in 1963. Melgar has produced over twenty well-received documentaries. SPECIAL FLIGHT received more than thirty international awards and won the Crossing Europe Award European Documentary in 2012. THE SHELTER premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival. // Films (selection): LA FORTERESSE (The Fortress, 2008, doc), LE MONDE EST COMME ÇA (The World Is Like That, 2011, doc), VOL SPÉCIAL (Special Flight, 2011; CE '12), L'ABRI (The Shelter, 2014, doc)
Architektur und Gesellschaft | Architecture and Society 2015
Fernand Melgar
Switzerland 2014
color
101 minutes
OV with English subtitles
Screenplay Fernand Melgar
Cinematography Fernand Melgar
Editing Karine Sudan, Ruis Pires
Sound/Sounddesign Jérôme Cuendet, Etienne Curchod
Producer(s) Fernand Melgar (Association Climage) Koproduktion / Co-Production RTS Radio Télévision Suisse (CH), SRG SSR (CH)
Production
Association Climage 8 rue du Maupas 1004 Lausanne Switzerland T +41 21 648 35 61 F +41 21 646 27 87 fernand@climage.ch www.climage.ch
