Seven Dumpsters & a Corpse

Seven Dumpsters and a Corpse is a documentary film (2007) by Swiss journalist Thomas Haemmerli.


The Journalist is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.


Two opposing storylines developed out of the film material. On the one hand, there is the struggle against chaos, during which the apartment becomes increasingly empty and clean. On the other hand, there is the story of the family, which becomes increasingly confusing.


The film deals intensively with compulsive hoarding.