Cinemas Xenia, Zurich 1991; Kino am Fluss, Zurich 1992
Synopsis Bäcki bleibt! is a documentation on serious housing shortage and the resistance against real estate speculation showed with the example of the squats Baeckerstrasse 51 and 55 in Zurich.
Zurich 1991. The houses at Bäckerstrasse 51 and 55 have been threatened with demolition for several years and are now occupied. They offer more than 40 people space to live and room for much more. For example, the Bäcki has apartments with up to 9 rooms as well as an information shop, rehearsal rooms in the basement for musicians, a bar, a cinema, etc. Countless people have already lived here, a lot of history has happened at the Bäcki.
Bäcki bleibt! tells the current story of the resistance of the residents of Bäckerstrasse 51 and 55 in Zurich Aussersihl. The Verein der Freundinnen von Punst und Kolitik (VFPuK), consisting of two residents and two ‘users’, has tried to combine the different points of view. The result is a video which deals with the resistance against speculation and the housing shortage, places it in its historical context and goes into detail about the history of Bäckerstrasse 51 and 55. Of interest are possible parallels between former tenants' struggles and current house fights. The historical documentation material from the turn of the 20th century, the 1930s, 1960s up to and including the 1980s, as well as images of Bäckerstrasse (1980 -1990) and the events and actions of and at Bäcki that VFPuK has been filming for a year make those parallels visible. The main part of the video is supplemented by street interviews with passers-by who are intended to provide an insight into their opinions on the issue of housing shortage and the struggle for housing.
Press "A very nice one-hour documentary in the oppositional spirit of the “Medienwerkstätte” at the beginning of the eighties is "Bäcki bleibt" by the "Verein der Freundinnen für Punst und Kolitik" (VFPuK). The volume informs about the squatting of the house in Zurich's Bäckerstrasse and presents a piece of history of the local labour movement in thoroughly researched sequences". NZZ, 1.11.1991
