Field Work - Feldarbeit

Feldarbeit tells of an encounter between a young woman and her father which takes place on the asparagus farm the father runs West of Berlin. In calm and exploring images between the poles of documentary and fiction, Henrike Meyer is reaching out, looking for some kind of reconciliation. The filmmaker accompanies her father during the harvest, an exhausting time that leaves little or no room for any form of familiar daily routine. This makes Feldarbeit an actual portrait of fieldwork. Henrike Meyer’s intimate perspective of an outsider gives an insight into the workings of a large agricultural firm that employs seasonal workers. The German countryside here is not idyllic. It turns out to be a non-place, where there is no possibility to hide behind rituals, no hold in memories. Father and daughter, who live in completely different worlds, are forced to invent a new language to approach each other. This happens in short scenes during the midday breaks, in between the working shifts, in the early morning hours and in the evening. Feldarbeit is a personal film and at the same time a document about the living and working conditions of our time.