German Afghan Film - Between Worlds - Viewed at 2014 Berlin Film Festival By Alex Deleon (filmfestivals.com) "Zwischen Welten" (Between Worlds) is a Stark new drama about a German military unit on a peacekeeping mission in a most inhospitable Afghan village and has Golden Bear written all over it. It's German, it's political, it's timely, it's depressing, it's unhappy, it's a damn well made military thriller -- and the director, Feo Aladag, is a woman ~ what more could a Berlinale Jury ask for! Of course there are other emotionally draining films in contention, and I haven't see all of them, but if I were a betting man this is the one I'd be betting on.Director Feo Aladag (née Feodora Schenk), 42, is an Austrian actress, writer, director, producer. She has 34 acting credits going back to 1996, mostly in TV series but this is only her second directorial effort and what an effort it is -- a truly gripping tale of German soldiers having to cope with the open hostility of the people they are supposedly protecting from the Taliban. It centers on the moral dilemma of a young German officer (Ronald Zehrfeld) who has already lost a brother in this crazy civil war and goes against orders to leave his command post in order to rush a young Afghan woman to the German military hospital before she bleeds to death -- victim of a drive-by shooting, presumably the Taliban, but maybe others in a situation where nobody really knows who the enemy is any more.Actress Saida Barmaki looks very much like Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who inspired the world after surviving a Taliban bullet to the head last year. In the film she is the sister of interpreter Tarik, who is on the Taliban Black List as a collaborator. (Mohsen Ahmady)Four languages are heard in the film, German, English, Dari, the Persian dialect of hero Jesper's interpreter, and Pashto, the majority Afghan language of the leader of the ragtag anti-Taliban force holding the village.A cultural difference becomes a bone of contention between the Germans and the Afghans when a cow wanders into the barb wire of their compound and is shot to "put it out of its misery". The owner of the cow demands a redemption of 500 €uros, because the cow is his only means of livelihood and he holds the Germans responsible. Putting animals out of their misery is apparently not part of their culture. The sum effect of the film is to force western viewers to ask themselves, "What the hell are we doing in their country, anyway?" -- The picture was strongly applauded, at the Haus Der Deutschen Festspiele cinema, which is a long drag to get to by U-Bahn far from the festival center of Potsdamer Platz. However, so many of the hot ticket films are being shown there that this trip to the festival sticks is nearly unavoidable. This one was certainly worth it!

. "Zwischen Welten" (Between Worlds) a Stark new drama about a German military unit on a peacekeeping mission in a most inhospitable Afghan village has Golden Bear written all over it. It's German, it's political, it's timely, it's depressing, it's unhappy, it's a very well made military thriller -- and the director, Feo Aladag, is a woman ~ what more could a Berlinale Jury ask for! Of course there are other emotionally draining films in contention, and I haven't see all of them, but if I were a betting man this is the one I'd be betting on.Director Feo Aladag (née Feodora Schenk), 42, is an Austrian actress, writer, director, producer. She has 34 acting credits going back to 1996, mostly in TV series but this is only her second directorial effort and what an effort it is -- a truly gripping tale of German soldiers having to cope with the open hostility of the people they are supposedly protecting from the Taliban. It centers on the moral dilemma of a young German officer (Ronald Zehrfeld) who has already lost a brother in this crazy civil war and goes against orders to leave his command post in order to rush a young Afghan woman to the German military hospital before she bleeds to death -- victim of a drive-by shooting, presumably the Taliban, but maybe others in a situation where nobody really knows who the enemy is any more.Actress Saida Barmaki looks very much like Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who inspired the world after surviving a Taliban bullet to the head last year. In the film she is the sister of interpreter Tarik, who is on the Taliban hit list as a collaborator. (Mohamad Mohsen)Four languages are heard in the film, German, English, Dari, the Persian dialect of hero Jesper's interpreter, and Pashto, the majority Afghan language of the leader of the ragtag anti-Taliban force holding the village.A cultural difference becomes a bone of contention between the Germans and the Afghans when a cow wanders into the barb wire of their compound and is shot to "put it out of its misery". The owner of the cow demands a redemption of 500 €uros, because the cow is his only means of livelihood and he holds the Germans responsible. Putting animals out of their misery is apparently not part of their culture. The sum effect of the film is to force western viewers to ask themselves, "What in hell are we doing in their country, anyway?" -- The picture was strongly applauded, at the Haus Der Deutschen Festspiele cinema, which is a drag to get to by U-Bahn far from the festival center of Potsdamer Platz. However, so many of the hot ticket films are being shown there that this trip to the festival sticks is nearly unavoidable. This one was certainly worth it!

I saw this film at the Berlinale film festival 2014 as part of the official Competition section, in a venue with over 1,500 booked seats. It turned out to be perfect drama with all the elements I love to see in a story: loyalty, chain of command issues, dichotomy between "them" and "us" where no side is good or bad, dilemma's how would I act myself in such a situation, and so on.The plot offers several opportunities to showcase the culture clash between the visiting soldiers and the local people. Nice quote from Afghan commander: "Many armies like yours came here and achieved nothing." An even better Afghan proverb I feel compelled to repeat here: "You have watches but we have the time." Apart from the actual story line, the film overall shows that sending military to Afghanistan (and similar places) sounds nice on TV, but it does not work out that way "in the field".We see three sides of the plot develop in parallel: (1) German officer Jesser whose brother was killed in the same area while leading a small military group in support of an outpost with local military. (2) Interpreter Tarik whose father was killed before his eyes to set an example demonstrating what happens with someone working for the wrong side. And (3) Tarik's sister who follows a technical course on a university, showing promise in the younger generation.All in all, the three plot lines get an even chance to develop, and offers the opportunity to feel along with the characters involved. It is impossible for us, from our comfy chairs, to judge how realistic all this is, but I'm prepared to allow much leeway for a film maker to get his/her message across in an edible format.

I have to say I am really glad to see Feo Aladag back to movie making. Her first feature film "When We Leave" from 2010 starring the incredibly talented Sibel Kekilli is one of my favorite directorial debuts ever. And even if I did not enjoy "Zwischen Welten" quite as much, it is still a decent movie. Aladag worked together with Judith Kaufmann again. Kaufmann was the cinematographer on "When We Leave" already and here she is also the co-writer to Aladag.The lead performance comes from Ronald Zehrfeld as a soldier whose convictions clash with his profession. The co-lead is played convincingly by Mohsin Ahmady, even more so given the fact that Ahmady is new to acting in big movies. He pulls off an interpreter here. In one of the smaller parts we get to see Burghart Klaußner, one of my favorite German actors, who is as great to watch as always as the principle-true army superior to Zehrfeld's character, even if he doesn't have much screen time. As the film progresses, the interpreter seems to become the center more and more, always stuck between his work and the struggles with his sister. Obviously many Afghans are not too happy about him working for the evil occupation army.One thing I liked about the ending is that it is no happy one. Aladag seems to like going for tragedy before the credits roll in and I like that too. Far too many films with forced happy endings out there, so this makes for some nice variety. Actually, the ending sucks for everybody involved. If there is one thing I did not like, it is that the colleague of Zehrfeld's character dies the very moment he neglects work. Slight lack of credibility here and realism that it had to happen that very moment. But war is never realistic I guess, so... The brother-sister plot could have been done slightly more moving. Of course you feel with them when the girl gets shot, but it is not as intense as it could have been. What I liked, however, was the scene with the watch.I have no idea if this film will be shown in the coming years/months in foreign countries, but if it will and you like the war genre or movies about culture clashes, you could give this one a chance. I, for once, hope that Feo Aladag will take a shorter break than 4 years until her next project comes out.