A documentary about the everyday lives of Zurich's forgotten youth. The school janitor calls the classroom where Xhumi and Müke are spending the last few months of their school days “the biggest damn ghetto.” Ana's hands get sweaty when asked about her future career. Oli is already standing outside—on the street.

The film was shot over a year at a secondary school in Zurich. In six chapters – “Ghetto,” “Car,” “Techno,” “Sex,” “Drugs,” and “Marroni” – a multi-layered portrait of growing up in an urban environment unfolds. The young people talk about family conflicts, fears about the future, longings, and their everyday lives between school, the streets, and nightlife.

The film premiered at the Solothurn Film Festival in 1997 and won the main prize at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival in the same year. Further honors followed at the Zurich Film Awards and the Festival dei Popoli in Florence. International critics praised the film's closeness to its protagonists and its uncompromising cinematic approach.

“Ghetto delivers an incredibly vivid, authentic, and touching portrait of a generation confronted with unprecedented liberalism in an unprecedented economic predicament.” (Tages-Anzeiger)