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And
that is no coincidence, said Palestinian-Lebanese actress
Yasmine Al Massri, who plays the doctor in that operating
theatre, saving one patient's life as another pulls a gun on
her.
"Brandt invented a new way of doing indie cinema, making it look
like a big blockbuster, but dedicating the content to indie
cinema," she said. "We have never seen a film about Syrian
refugees told with such high production values."
The film is unsparing in the way it presents the dilemmas faced
by the film's successive protagonists: Al Massri's character
Amira, forced in an instant to abandon everything to bring her
daughter to safety, is only the first parent shown faced with an
agonising decision involving her child.
"Her mission is to get her daughter out because that's what we
become when we're parents and refugees," she said. "You have one
mission: to get your kids to safety."
Andersen seemed overcome by emotion ahead of the premiere at the
Berlin Film Festival on Friday, dabbing back tears as he
explained the vision behind a film on which he had worked for
over a decade.
"I just wanted to make a film that was about this very important
topic but also moved at a pace that my kids would be willing to
watch it," he told an emotionally charged news conference.
Repeatedly, the audience is confronted with painful ambiguities:
the ruthless people smuggler is revealed to be a single father
trying to buy a better life for his beloved son.
Far from the war, a middle class family in Europe is shown
doubting whether anything the refugees face can justify the
perilous journeys they undertake.
It is characteristic of the film that it refuses to the very end
to give that question an unambiguous answer, praising characters
for doing what they must.
"He is a simple man doing what a simple man must do in times of
crisis: help other people," said actor Constantine Markoulakis
of his character, a Greek coastguard.
The shadows of other crises loomed over the news conference,
with Al Massri, wearing the keffiyeh that symbolises the
Palestinian liberation movement, opening her remarks with a call
for "ceasefire now", referencing Israel's invasion and
bombardment of Gaza.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Josie Kao)
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