“The Way to School between Two Worlds”: Documenting the Knowledge of Second-Generation Immigrant Children in Switzerland, 1977–1983

Author(s) : Kijan Espahangizi

Source : https://doi.org/10.1086/704757

Abstract:

“In the late 1970s, the “second generation” took center stage in the ongoing public debates on immigration in Switzerland. This generation also took the lead in the first Swiss documentary film project on this topic, Unsere Eltern haben den Ausweis C (“Our Parents Have a Residence Permit”). This two-part cinematic portrait of “second-generation foreign children” in Switzerland was produced and directed by the Swiss filmmaker Eduard Winiger between 1977 and 1982. Each part was sixty-six minutes long. The first, “Schichtwechsel” (“Shift Change”), depicted the initial stages of immigration to Switzerland, the immigrant parents’ workplaces, and the strains of organizing preschool care for their children.”