Mercenaries without Borders

Author: Asiem El Difraoui

Length: 50'

Joining the French Foreign Legion is free. Except for murderers and rapists, everybody is welcome there. There are well over eight thousand foreign legionnaires in total, including a growing number of East Europeans. Foreign mercenaries have served under the "Tricolore" for 170 years. They are regarded as the toughest soldiers in the world. Their tasks: freeing hostages, fighting terrorists, and sabotage. This international unit is held together by unconditional obedience and rigid discipline. Why would these men feel compelled to leave everything behind and sign up for combat training in the jungle? Is it the urge for freedom, trouble with the law, perhaps the love of weapons and combat? It is clear that whoever joins the legion can shed his past and start a new life with a new name and identity. Spiegel TV Special tracked down the foreign legionnaires in the jungle of French Guyana and accompanied them during survival training.

year of production: 2001