The Ungemach Experiment – A Eugenics History

In 1924, the Ungemach garden-city is inaugurated in Strasbourg (France) for couples from “healthy and fertile strain" only. Once selected, they have to found a large family, or they leave their home. This eugenics experiment, which received the approval of the authorities, political and scientific, was a subject of fascination the world over. And it will last more than 60 years. The film weaves connections between accounts from residents of the village, shocked to have been the unwitting guinea pigs of this experiment, along with those of historians, sociologists and international specialists on these issues. Because the question of eugenics is universal; its modes of implementation are multiple; it continues today to pervade ethical debates, especially surrounding medically assisted procreation techniques.