A Moment of Freedom (2008)

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Movie
Original title A moment of freedom
Country of production Austria , France , Turkey
original language Persian , Turkish , Kurdish , English
Publishing year 2008
length 110 minutes
Rod
Director Arash T. Riahi
script Arash T. Riahi
production Veit Heiduschka
Michael Katz
Margaret Ménégoz
music Karuan
camera Michael Riebl
cut Karina Ressler
occupation

A Moment Freedom (international distribution title: For a Moment Freedom ) is a film drama produced in an Austrian-French-Turkish co-production and the first feature film by the Austrian-Iranian director Arash Riahi . The film, which tells of the different fates of three groups of refugees from Iran , has won several international awards.

action

Escape and asylum applications

Three groups of refugees from Iran, including two Kurds, flee with the help of smugglers and pilots, partly on foot, partly by horse, partly by car, across the Iranian-Turkish border mountains to Turkey. Their paths cross for the first time in a run-down hotel, and the film then tells of their different escape motives, emigration destinations, ideas of the future and the various obstacles that stand in the way of further emigration to Germany or Austria.

The first group is a married couple with their son, the second group are two young friends and the two little siblings (Azy and Arman) one of the young people who are to be brought to their parents in Austria. The third group arises from the need that the hotel only has one free room left. These are an older Iranian and a younger Kurd, of whom the older one (Abbas) has been waiting in vain for an immigration permit to the EU for years, the younger one in turn looks optimistically into the future and has already put photos of him in a suit next to "his" Mercedes and "his" house "from Germany" sends home to his home village.

All of these refugees apply for asylum to the local UN office in order to be admitted to a European country. Disappointments already arise here, as the authority sees the most chances for a settlement in a border region of Turkey and no “desired country” can be selected, which is difficult for the young people who want to go to Austria with their two little siblings Challenge.

Another fate

During a police operation near the hotel, illegal immigrants are arrested, the two young people and their siblings barely escaping their arrest. But soon the Iranian secret service also becomes aware of the group, and while one of the two young people is still with an acquaintance, an NGO activist at the disco, the secret service kidnaps the other and the two children. The young person is tortured and urged to lure the children's parents to Turkey, which the child refuses to do, pointing out that he does not know the telephone number by heart. Meanwhile, his friend and the NGO activist are looking for help from the UN, which quickly realizes that the Iranian secret service is behind it. By threatening international pressure by publishing the story in the media, the secret service can be brought to the release of the three. As a result, all four, i.e. the two young people and the two siblings, receive positive asylum notices and can emigrate.

However, the two Iranian Kurds are less fortunate. After a nightly visit to a local restaurant, two Turkish nationalists beat them up while singing a Kurdish folk song on the bus. While the younger tries in vain to help himself by denying that he is a Kurd and referring to his Iranian origins, Abbas demonstratively continues to sing as best he can. The ordeal only ends at the next bus stop. The bus driver of the two-story bus only realizes what happened now that the younger Kurd was thrown down the stairs. He just shouts after the nationalists that they are a disgrace for this country. Some time later, the younger Kurd found out that he was allowed to immigrate to Germany, but Abbas was not. His joy therefore quickly evaporates and, during a fire service in the hotel, he robbed the hotel owner's cash register in order to use the money to obtain forged entry documents for Abbas. The forgery is only discovered at the Romanian-Hungarian border and Abbas is arrested.

The couple's asylum application with their child is also rejected. The man initially hides it from his wife and when she finds out, he decides to apply again under a false name (to get another supervisor who does not recognize him) and a self-inflicted injury. In the UN building, however, he runs into his previous supervisor and addresses him by his “previous” name, which makes the matter uncovered. In an act of desperation, he doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire in front of the UN building. Despite quick help, he dies. His wife finds out about it through television.

She then returns to Iran with her son. On the same route that she once took to a meeting point for the onward journey, she meets a family of four who are apparently also looking for a future outside of Iran.

The film ends with the execution of two men and one woman by the Iranian military, including Abbas. The last shot shows Abbas' face immediately before the execution; the shots can no longer be heard.

background

In the story, Riahi partly processes his own experiences. At the age of 10, in 1982, he and his parents had a similar escape through the Iranian-Turkish mountain region as the family with their child in this film. The fate of his younger siblings, who had to stay with their grandparents at the time, is reflected in the story of the two young people and the two children. Riahi's siblings came to Vienna with their cousin and his friend from Iran only a year after him. In the years before the film was made, Riahi financed extensive travel and research out of his own pocket, including among today's Iranian refugees on the Turkish-Iranian border, as well as in scripting seminars. The script has been rewritten many times over the years.

The director on the political message and meaning of the film:

“My film doesn't take sides. There is no finger pointing. It's about democracy and the universal longing to be able to realize one's dreams in freedom. "

- Arash T. Riahi

About the connection between the film and his own emigration experience:

“It's unbelievable: My parents arrived in Austria completely penniless and without knowing the language, and they managed to build up an existence so that we children never had the feeling that we were missing something. The film pays homage to them and their kind. And to millions of refugees around the world. "

- Arash T. Riahi

Production and rental

The film was made by Wega Film in coproduction with Les Films du Losange (France) and Pi Film (Turkey). The film had its world premiere at the World Film Festival in Montreal on August 29, 2008. In Austria, it was released in theaters on January 9, 2009 in the distribution of Filmladen .

With Karina Ressler (editor) and Monika Buttinger (costumes), two employees were also involved in the production, who most recently worked for Revanche ( Prisma Film ), among others .

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Andrea Schurian: Between times of flight. Der Standard , 7 January 2009, p. 27
  2. ↑ Tromsø Internasjonale Film Festival: Power to the people . Retrieved April 5, 2011 (Norwegian)