Gambit

After graduating from university, Jörge Sambeth left depression–stricken post–war Germany and married his childhood sweetheart. They moved to the enchanting land of Switzerland where they had two children and built their own house. Then a renowned chemical and pharmaceutical company offered Jörge a position as manager of one of their plants in Italy. A few months after taking on the new post, disaster struck at the factory. An explosion caused a major leak of poisonous dioxins. Overnight, Jörge Sambeth became a criminal. Director Sabine Gisiger looks back at the long–forgotten catastrophe, which hit the Italian town Seveso. The priorities of contemporary business– maximum profit at the expense of safety – led to the town's contamination for twenty–five years. She dusts off old testimonies, as well as the media affair once followed by the entire western world. At the same time she looks at the life of the factory manager at the time, obtaining a view behind the scenes. This may be the first time that anyone has examined the Seveso tragedy from the other side of the fence, not only exposing the fortunes of one man, but also the self–assurance with which the real culprits escaped justice.