Schildkrötenwut
Pary El-Qalqili
Germany | 2012 | 70 min
World premiere
Languages : Arabic, German
Subtitle : English
A man leaves his wife and 12-year-old daughter in Berlin to return to Palestine, fight for his people, make a fresh start. After ten years, the man is expelled by the Israelis and forced to return to Germany. His wife allows him to live in the cellar of her row house while his daughter tries to understand this mysterious man who spends his days in silence. Like a turtle living inside its shell.
A man leaves his wife and 12-year-old daughter in Berlin to return to Palestine, fight for his people, make a fresh start. After ten years the man is expelled by the Israelis and forced to return to Germany. His wife allows him to live in the cellar of her row house while his daughter tries to understand this mysterious man who spends his days in silence. Like a turtle living inside its shell. Thus the daughter starts questioning her father. But answering is not easy. There is a lot of pain that must be dealt with. Director Pary El-Qalqili, born 1982 in Berlin, therefore decides to return to Palestine with her father. On the road the burden of the Palestinian conflict gets under their skin and creates an emotional barrier in their relationship. And while others build walls, Pary and her father have to bring down the wall that separates them from each other. Schildkrötenwut is a film about regaining the right to memory; a story about loss and exile. A film about how war and exile shape the attempts of those who try to speak again and break free of their own turtle shell.
GIONA A. NAZZARO