39C3

The system of harassing payment cards for people receiving asylum seeker benefits is not a new idea, but has been dusted off from the 1990s/2000s. But even back then, there was resistance—including in Thuringia!

We are showing “Change?! – No way!”, a 25-minute documentary by Filmpirat*innen about the voucher system for refugees. Using hidden cameras, the film pirates in Thuringia accompanied refugees while shopping to show the everyday, discriminatory madness at supermarket checkouts when vouchers have to be “used up” during a shopping trip or dictionaries “can't be bought with vouchers.” But they also show the everyday solidarity of people who exchange vouchers 1:1 for cash in exchange initiatives and do not stop there, but generally demand the abolition of the voucher practice – the precursor to today's payment cards.