The Pickers
country, year
Germany, 2024
genre
documentary
running time
80’
directed by
Elke Sasse
languages
Greek, Italian, Portugese, Spanish, English, Arabic, Bambara, Urdu
subtitles
English and Slovenian
about the film
The Pickers is a journey to European fields where our fruit and vegetables are grown: in Southern Italy, Seydou from Mali is picking oranges. He has no contract and is paid per crate. He lives in a self-built hut in a settlement without water and electricity. Blueberries in Portugal, olives in Greece, strawberries in Spain – more than two million migrants work in European fields, most of them without contract or minimum wage, some without papers or with high debts to agents.
about the author
Elke Sasse studied literature at the Free University of Berlin before taking up work as a freelance author and journalist. Since 1994 she has focused on longer documentaries and reports. Elke’s films centre on people from all walks of life. She often explores the subject of migration, as well its connection to global trade, portraying the brutal reality of the exploitation of migrant workers in Europe.
filmography:
- 2024 – The Pickers
- 2021 – Tomatoes and greed
- 2020 – Corona Chronicles: 40 Days that Changed the world
- 2018 – The war on my phone
- 2016 – #MyEscape
- 2015 – Worldwide Berlin
