The Shift

synopsis

A babysitter, a bunch of laborers, and a long-haul truck driver. All were born in Slovakia, but after the country joined the EU, they took the opportunity to work elsewhere in the Schengen zone. During week-long work shifts in Austria, Germany, or on European motorways, they try to get used to their foreign environments while struggling to maintain contact with their children and partners. For their future, they left for better-paying jobs. Now they are losing them by their absence. They don't know what awaits them when they return home. A trio of saddening stories compose a laconic portrait of a globalised labour market that allows people to fulfil their dreams, but often at great sacrifice.

biography

Jaroslav Vojtek (* 1968) graduated from the Film and Television Faculty in Bratislava. His feature-length documentary Here We Are! (2005), about a Slovak family returning to Slovakia from Kazakhstan, premiered at Karlovy Vary. His film The Border (2009), about a village in eastern Slovakia that lies on the state border, won an award in Jihlava. His insight into the lives of people with autism in So Far, So Near (2014) also received an award.

more about film

director:	Jaro Vojtek
producer:	Ivan Ostrochovský
script:	Marek Leščák, Jaro Vojtek
photography:	Tomáš Stanek, Peter Balcár, Norbert Hudec
editing:	Peter Harum, Maroš Šlapeta
music:	Michal Nejtek
sound:	Dušan Kozák

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