Actually, he didn‘t want to go to Germany. And dentistry isn‘t his thing either. But Saeed (Roger Azar) scrapped his dream of becoming a pilot so as not to disappoint his parents in Lebanon. Turkish Asli (Canan Kir), who he meets while studying in Hamburg, and who he falls in love with, doesn‘t have it easy with her mother either. Her mother doesn‘t want to accept her relationship with Saeed. Despite this, they get married in a mosque. Shortly thereafter, Saeed decided to go to Yemen – and Asli doesn‘t understand what‘s happening anymore. She is meant to wait for him in Beirut with his parents, but Saeed doesn‘t come. When he appears in front of her door four months later, they try to start over, until Saeed goes to Miami to realize his dream of flying. Asli stays in Germany, waits for his return once again, waiting in vain. On September 11 2011 the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York determine the fate of their love.
For those who think this sounds kitschy, rest assured that Anne Zohra Berrached doesn‘t aim at the big drama in her film. The story she tells is carefully embedded in the era, the conditions, and the cultures that are part of her and her surroundings. The political, world history superstructure largely plays out beneath the surface, in the private sphere, like in Asli‘s gaze when she looks at her husband in the eyes and suddenly recognize who is standing in front of her. Christopher Aoun‘s attentive camera follows her without being intrusive. In conjunction with Kir‘s empathetic acting, it‘s a quiet, strong film that gets under your skin.

Pamela Jahn

Translation: Elinor Lewy