Brother’s Keeper - English subtitled + Discussion with director
Gripping drama about two Kurdish boys at a boarding school in Anatolia. When one of them falls ill, the other must convince the boarding school's repressive board of his friend's condition.
Yusuf and his best friend Memo are pupils at a boarding school for Kurdish boys, a place secluded in the mountains of Eastern Anatolia. When Memo falls mysteriously ill, Yusuf is forced to struggle through the bureaucratic labyrinth of the school to try to help his friend. But by the time the adults in charge finally understand the seriousness of Memo's condition and try to get him to the hospital, the school has been buried under a sudden, heavy snowfall. With no way out and now desperate to reach help, teachers and pupils engage in a blame game where grudges, feelings of guilt and hidden secrets emerge. In the meanwhile, time passes mercilessly.
In BROTHER’S KEEPER, the latest film from talented Kurdish director Ferit Karahan, scarcity and sparseness guide both the visual aesthetic and the narrative, an economy that results in a compelling accumulation of small moments that loom with volatility. As such, Karahan convincingly exposes the fate of Kurdish Yusuf. The director's strong grip did not escape the major festivals either. Among other things, the film won the FIPRESCI prize at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival.
After the screening, the director is present for an aftertalk.