Das Boot ist voll

The Boat Is Full
It is the early 1940s and a group of refugees manages to escape Nazi Germany one night to Switzerland. Judith is hoping that she will find her husband, who is already being detained in Switzerland. The young Jewish woman is accompanied by her brother as well as by an old man and his granddaughter, an orphaned French child and a German deserter. The next morning, a Swiss married couple discover the refugees and inform the police. The pair quickly regret their denunciation, but by now events have already taken their fateful course . . .
At the time when this film was produced, this subject was very much taboo in Switzerland and broadcasters SRG, ZDF and ORF in Germany and Austria were needed in order to secure the film’s funding. The film was a great success on the art-house cinema circuit. Towards the end of the 1990s, legal proceedings on the part of American clients against Swiss banks for their alleged misappropriation of the money and property of murdered Jews became a major issue; the behaviour of the Swiss population at the time was also heavily criticised. All at once, Markus Imhoof’s film was more topical than ever. However, a suitable print of DAS BOOT IST VOLL no longer existed. Two badly damaged prints – the 16mm original and a 35mm print – were used to create this digitally restored version that has taken seven labs three years to prepare.
by Markus Imhoof
with Tina Engel, Curt Bois, Renate Steiger, Mathias Gnädinger, Michael Gempart, Hans Diehl
Switzerland 1981 101’

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