Outside

Director

Andrei Schwartz
comes from a Romanian Jewish family of artists. In 1973 he moved to the West Germany and studied art history and visual communication in Hamburg. Today Andrei Schwartz lives in Hamburg.





Filmography (Selection)

2014: "Outside", Documentary, 87 mins.
2008: "The Pier of Apolonovka", Documentary, 90 mins. Distinction: "Honourable Mention of the Jury" – EURODOK Oslo 2009
2005: "Jailbirds – Geschlossene Gesellschaft", Documentary, 90 mins. Festivals: Semaine de la Critique Locarno 2005, DOK Leipzig 2005
2002: "Geschichten aus dem Lepratal", Documentary, 90 mins. Festivals: Internationales Forum des jungen Films, Berlinale 2002
1997: "Wasteland", Documentary, 75 mins.
Awards a.o.: VPRO "Joris Ivens Award" – IDFA Amsterdam, "Best International Documentary over 60 minutes" – Hot Docs TIFF Toronto, 2nd Prize – Documentary Festival Mailand 1998

 

Outside

Director Andrei Schwartz met his protagonist Gabriel ten years ago during the shooting of "Jailbirds – Geschlossene Gesellschaft" (2005), a documentary about the Romanian high-security prison Rahova. Since then, the filmmaker, who lives in Hamburg, has kept in touch. Eight years later Gabriel is released on probation. A measure that has only been used in Romania since the country joined the EU a few years ago and from which only a few lifers have been able to benefit so far. 

"Outside" begins with the decision of the parole board and then accompanies Gabriel for the first two years in freedom. In his documentary Andrei Schwartz shows how a murderer tries to gain a foothold in society and build a new "decent life" for himself. The film also reflects the hardships of a country marked by unemployment and a faltering economy.

In prison, Gabriel has lived for over twenty years as if in a parallel world, and as euphoric as he is when he is released, he is not prepared for life "outside". He has neither social institutions nor probation officers at his side, and the country to which he is returning he knows practically only from television. Not only once does he think: I would rather have stayed in jail! But he does not want to give up and when he cannot find an honest job in Romania, he tries his luck in Germany, like many of his fellow countrymen.