The Shelter

The subjects of filmmaker Fernand Melgar's cinema vérité documentary congregate each night to try to gain entrance to a shelter (or l'abri) in Lausanne, Switzerland, that residents call a "bunker" because it appears to spring from the side of a hill. There is so much demand that staffers prioritize women and children since they can't house everybody. The jostling for spots can lead to heated scuffles, and the watchmen double as bouncers, but when they say they can only admit 50 people, they mean it. After a Romanian family fails to gain admittance, they shuffle off to sleep in their car, and the following day head into town to panhandle. Others walk off forlornly into the rain-sodden dark, seeking whatever dry spots they can find. Amadou, who hails from Mauritania, complains that the city fines people who sleep in public, even when they have nowhere else to go. Amadou just wants to earn enough money to return home, while Spanish couple César and Rosa hope to find work at a ski resort. Like many, the latter came to Switzerland in hopes of a better life, only to face new hardships. As César puts it, "stress and fatigue accumulate" after too many nights on the streets. The shelter does what it can: once it starts to snow, for instance, they increase the capacity to 60, and they also give blankets to a few who are left out in the cold. Melgar captures good times, as well, such as staffers joking around while fixing meals, and Roma people dancing with abandon. But overall this is a sobering profile since prospects for most of these immigrants don't appear to be bright. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)