Yahoo Lifestyle Ameer Fakher Eldin on Directing Hanna Schygulla in Berlin Competition Title ‘Yunan’: ‘You Feel That She’s Really True to Herself’
Berlin-based helmer Ameer Fakher Eldin, who was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, to Syrian parents from the Golan Heights, is in the Berlinale competition with “Yunan,” the story of a prominent Arab author Munir, who is living in exile in Berlin and going through some heavy inner turmoil.
Burdened by “an unforgettable past and an unidentifiable future,” as the director puts it, Munir embarks on a journey to a remote island to contemplate suicide. There, he meets a wise elderly woman named Vaselka, played by German cinema icon Hanna Schygulla, whose simple acts of kindness rekindle his desire to live.
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“Yunan” is the second film in Fakher Eldin’s planned trilogy “Homeland” that began with his well-received 2021 feature debut “The Stranger.” In that film, which made a splash in Venice, a middle-aged man returns from Russia to the Golan Heights to work as an unlicensed doctor.
“Yunan” stars Lebanese multi-hyphenate George Khabbaz as Munir, Schygulla, Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman (“Paradise Now”) and Sibel Kekilli (“Game of Thrones”). The director spoke to Variety about why “Yunan” can help counter Germany’s increasing anti-immigrant sentiment.
How did the trilogy germinate?
The idea of the trilogy came because I felt like there is a theme of estrangement and exile that was somehow part of my identity in a way, or the world I grew up into. My family hails from the Golan Heights, the occupied Golan Heights, and it’s a place where displacement and resilience are not just part of history, but also woven into the fabric of daily life.
Would you say that “The Stranger” is about a stranger among his own people, while “Yunan” is about a stranger among strangers?
Yes, “Yunan” is basically about a figure who is forced to live in exile and unable to return to his homeland. The story of this film came from personal experience, but also from a deeper curiosity about the future, and about the unknown, and the existential fears we all face. I’m drawn to these questions that don’t have answers. By the uncertainty of life and what happens when everything familiar falls apart. And I’m taken especially by the refugee theme. Or by the most common refugee theme involving those who left their homes due to war and the national crises. Whether it’s Ukrainians, or what happened after the Arab Spring: Syrians, Sudanese, Egyptians. Everyone.
What was it like working with Hanna Schygulla?
Hanna herself was a refugee back in the day. She went to Munich [from Poland] and had her own story of traumas and post-trauma from Nazi Germany. She got me romanticizing a lot about the implications of home loss and cultural loss. She was telling me: “Why can’t someone have two homes?” Somehow it’s about the intelligence of the actors I chose that brought me new horizons as to what this film could bring. When you watch Hanna Schygulla, who is 80 years old, you feel that she’s really true to herself. And I think that will resonate somehow with the audience. If they can feel it, it could also be a lesson. They can watch the film and say: “You know what? Maybe we should look differently at strangers. Maybe we don’t need to stress that much.”
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