The documentary THE GAME premiered in Germany at the end of October 2021 and has now also been shown in Austria since 18 January 2022. The film was produced by director Manuela Federl from the association Lautlos e.V. and is about the game of refugees between life and death on the Balkan route.
The title of the film itself directly includes the name "THE GAME", which the refugees use for their attempts to illegally cross the border between Bosnia and Croatia. Many succeed, but many are picked up by the Croatian police, deported back to Bosnia and prepare for the next attempt at the game. The goal of the refugees is always the same: to leave the country of Bosnia as quickly as possible and enter the European Union by any means possible. During the deportations, the refugees are often beaten, abused, insulted and everything they own is taken from them. Their money, their mobile phones, often even clothes and shoes.
Not only young men take part in the game itself, but entire families set out every day and try to cross the border. The film also shows the efforts of the local Bosnian refugee helpers, who had experienced the Bosnian war themselves and are now trying to help the refugees in Bosnia, because many of the helpers were refugees themselves at the time and still know all too well what it is like to be a refugee.