60th Berlin International Film Festival

It’s a documentary shot right after the end of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza in 2009. Without analyzing the filmteam gives us impressions of daily life in Gaza, showing not only the ruins but the beautiful beach, drama classes for children and the reconstruction of  a roundabout destroyed by the bombs. Hope and grwoth blend with the sorrow of lost family members and and land cultivated for generations. Life is peristent like a dandelion growing through cracks in the  asphalt.

The film recounts an episode in the life of a distinguished psychologist who deals with memory and who has previously betrayed a friend who was then forced to emigrate. The film explores questions of truth-telling and lying, responsibility and forgiveness, both within society and within the family. It emphasises the importance of collective and personal memory in a context of rebuilding a post-totalitarian country.

A splendid portrait of the poet as a young child, „Bal“ tells the story of the blossoming of the sensibility in a rural boy, Yusuf, living in the highlands of northeast Turkey. Immersed in a forest of overwhelming beauty, Yusuf´s life points to a connection with nature that provides not only material subsistence but spiritual learning, highlighting issues such as family love and involvement in the community. „Bal“ invites us to go deeper into this forest, on a journey that mirrors that of the human soul seeking the ideals and people with whom we want to share life.