Que sera?

Doing nothing, waiting for death, living in the ghetto that is an old people's home. But the arrival of the children's crèche, brings together the oldest with the youngest. People who do not yet, or no longer belong to the meritocracy have time, much time for each other. Our oldest ones live in old people's homes. It's the end of the line. But because of the kids, who have recently moved into the house, a failing vitality starts to awaken…

"In the “Schönegg Senior Citizens' Home” time drags by in boredom. How different it is in the “MixMax” creche, which has rented premises on the upper floor of the building. Here the children do handicrafts, paint, bake and play, laugh and cry, while downstairs the senior citizens drag their feet as they walk up and down the long corridors. Day in, day out Lydia, Hélène, Claire and Gottfried sit together, from time to time uttering a word. There are no more conversations, although 90-year old Hélène with her charming western Swiss accent tries again and again to have one with Claire, who only answers yes or no in a shrill Basle dialect. It is the noise that can be heard of the children in the distance that brings life to this place.
Before Dieter Fahrer began to shoot QUE SERA? he worked as an auxiliary nurse in the Schönegg home and thus got closer to his protagonists. The atmosphere of failure in this community contrasts with the film-maker's success in getting five people to speak in front of the camera. Thus we learn from Lydia that the desire for love and sex never vanishes, but that she has had to learn to do without. Gottfried prefers not to know what is happening around him. The lease on Hélène‘s apartment has been terminated without her knowledge. Fahrer contrasts the personal portraits with daily life in the home. Lydia and Hélène are often to be found in the creche, where they join in doing handicrafts and painting. They are the only senior citizens to succeed in having contact with these children: the others have become estranged from the world of children. Panoramic swivelling shots give a clear view of the city of Bern outside, which becomes perceptible for the people indoors only through the windows. These people have reached the end of their lives and are waiting in long corridors for death. Their lives are in the past. They have to think back and derive pleasure from memories of how things once were. “A crumb of comfort remains”, says Lydia, “it‘s the same for everybody, whether young or old, beautiful or ugly, rich or poor, all that's different is the way we die.” The film creates a sensorial atmosphere in a home where hopelessness prevails and the future has been blotted out, while at the same time the circle of life begins again with the arrival of 6-month old Kaspar."
Visions du Réel Nyon