The zone on the border between Bosnia and Croatia near Velika Kladuša: Old military equipment stands in the woods, while soaked passport photos of refugees lie on the fallen leaves. On their gruelling odyssey along the Balkan route, they pass through landscapes where demining teams are still clearing away the dangerous remnants of the wars of the 1990s. Back then, the violence following the collapse of Yugoslavia forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee. Today, those fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and other conflict regions encounter a European border regime that dehumanises, mistreats and pushes back those seeking protection. In Nicole Vögele’s sustained wide shots, the landscape is elevated to the status of a protagonist, and her filmic observation, distinguished by a heightened awareness for the effect of time, manages to rupture our reflexive urge to hide behind ethical blinders.

Nicole Vögele, born in in Olten/Switzerland in 1983, studied journalism in Lucerne and documentary filmmaking at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. She is known for her shorts MRS LOOSLI (2013), awarded at Visions du Réel, and FOG (2014), which premiered at the Berlinale and screened at many documentary festivals. Her debut feature-length documentary CLOSING TIME premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, was awarded with the Special Jury Prize of the “Cineasti del presente” competition and screened around the globe.

Filmography (selection): 2013 INTO THE INNARDS (short film), 2018 CLOSING TIME, 2024 THE LANDSCAPE AND THE FURY

Awards (selection): Grand Prix (Visions du Réel, Nyon/Switzerland 2024), Award for Best Director of a Documentary Film (Zurich Film Award, Switzerland 2024)