Brenner Pass, Alpine border, spring 2016: the Austrian government announces the construction of a border fence, expecting a shift of the refugee routes to Italy after the Balkan route is closed. The residents fear the fence just as much as the supposedly threatening influx of foreigners to their homeland. Two years later, the fence is still rolled up in a container, as the inrush of refugees never occurred.

Brennpunkt Brenner. Ausgehend von der befahrbaren Grenze zwischen Italien und Österreich vermisst Die bauliche Maßnahme jene Umgebung, die Schauplatz eines innereuropäischen Politikwechsels war. Der Raum erschließt sich dabei durch die für Nikolaus Geyrhalter typischen sehr genauen Totalen und in längeren Gesprächen mit Polizisten, Einheimischen, Wanderern, Bauern, Gastwirten und Mautkassierern. Was hier in diesem Sammelbecken politisch-persönlicher Haltungen sichtbar wird, betrifft ganz Europa.

O filme passa-se em Brenner Pass, região de fronteira alpina da Áustria, em que o governo austríaco anunciou a construção de uma cerca na fronteira, esperando uma mudança das rotas de refugiados para a Itália após o fechamento da rota dos Balcãs. Os moradores temem a cerca tanto quanto o afluxo supostamente ameaçador de estrangeiros para sua terra natal.