Ali is new to Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. As a Lebanese refugee, his presence in Germany is hanging in the balance. The local tough boys put him to a test of courage: breaking into the apartment of an elderly neighbour, a Jewish-Russian immigrant. After doing this, Ali has to make amends with the old man to prevent his own deportation. A touching story of an unequal friendship.

Having grown up in a Palestinian refugee camp, 14-year-old Ali Messalam learned to hate “the Jews” from a very young age. After fleeing from Lebanon with his family, he has been living in Berlin Kreuzberg for four years. Whether they can stay in the country or not is still uncertain, but the family is allowed to leave the asylum seekers’ shelter for the time being and move into their own apartment on Mehringplatz. Ali wants to make friends with the Arabic boys living in the neighbourhood. For that to happen, however, he has to prove what he’s made of. His test of courage involves breaking into the apartment of his Jewish-Russian neighbour, Alexander. The violence-prone youths follow Ali and demolish the old man’s apartment. But only Ali is recognised by Alexander, who has come home early, and is reported to the police. Ali now faces possible criminal proceedings, and the entire family could be deported from Germany. Ali’s worried mother manages to put in a good word about her son to Alexander. Under the condition that Ali helps him fix his apartment back up, Alexander will withdraw the charges. The boy begrudgingly accepts and must spend his free time with “the enemy” from now on. In the beginning, there is hostility between the two immigrants from different generations and cultures. But gradually, the ice breaks and the two develop respect, and even affection, for each other. After his apartment has been patched up again, Alexander wants to keep his promise and withdraw the charges against Ali, but this turns out to be harder than expected – their blossoming friendship is put to a hard test.

In his first feature film, screenplay writer and director Leo Khasin examines the conflict between Arabs and Jews, which takes place on two floors of a rented apartment building in Berlin. Khasin, who is Jewish, revealed in an interview that the first mental vision he had of his future film was of an Arabic boy reciting the Kaddish. The Kaddish, one of the most important prayers in Judaism, commemorates departed souls, and is recited by the closest male relative of the deceased at funerals. At the end of the film, Ali recites the Kaddish for his dead friend Alexander.

Khasin worked as a dentist on Berlin’s Mehringplatz, where the film is set, for a number of years.

Production Country

Germany (DE)

Production Period

2010/2011

Production Year

2011

color

color

Aspect Ratio

1:2,35

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Feature Film

Genre

Drama

Topic

Coming of Age, Friendship, Jewish Topics, Religion, Discrimination / Racism, Migration / Flight / Exile

Target Group

Youth film (12-17)

Available Media

DVD, Blu-ray Disc, DCP

Original Version

German (de)

DVD

Subtitles

German (partly), German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Italian (it), Chinese (short), Russian (ru), Catalan (ca)

Note on the Format

Von der Gesamtauflage bekommt die Sprachabteilung 500 Stück, der Filmbereich 300

Blu-ray Disc

Subtitles

German (partly), German (full), English (en), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Italian (it), Chinese (short), Russian (ru), Catalan (ca), French (fr)

DCP