Thomas Fürhapter’s documentary sheds light on the challenges of adjusting to a new culture as it follows a series of “integration classes” offered to immigrants in Vienna. The film opens in the nondescript corridors of an administrative building, which lead into sun-filled but impersonal meeting rooms where these sessions take place. As the participants discuss their worries and uncertainties, these colourless spaces transform into sites of passion and community.
Conducted in multiple languages, the seminars grapple with culturally specific issues faced by different minority groups. Topics of discussion range from Austrian ways of greeting, to more serious concerns such as racism and domestic abuse. In talking about the present and the future, people also reveal pieces of their past: some moved to Austria for love, others fled the horrors of war. Despite their different circumstances, what unites these individuals from all walks of life is a heartfelt desire to belong.
While the aim of these classes is to provide immigrants with the tools to navigate these challenges, some of the sessions also appear to place an oversized emphasis on cultural assimilation, with little consideration for nuanced sociopolitical contexts. The film offers little information on how the classes are structured or the lecturers are chosen. In one scene, an instructor argues that, if an Austrian is annoyed by hearing conversations in Arabic, such a reaction comes from cultural differences, and not racism. When a participant pushes back against her advice not to speak Arabic loudly in public, the speaker frames her troublesome suggestion as a form of self-protection.
Integration, however, is a two-way street. As the immigrants pour their hearts and souls into these sessions, it is unclear if the government provides similar classes to the local population. To live together in harmony, the onus of responsibility can’t be placed on the shoulders of one community alone.
Source: theguardian.com
