Jointly
Organized
by:
Organized
by:
Original name: Zentralflughafen THF
English name: Central Airport THF
Year: 2017
Run time: 97'
Language: Arabic, English, German, Russian
Type (Colour/ Black & white): Colour
Country: Germany, France, Brazil
Director: Karim Aïnouz
Producer: Felix von Boehm, Charlotte Uzu, Diane Maia
Cast: Ibrahim Al Hussein, Qutaiba Nafea
Cinematographer: Juan Sarmiento G.
Editor: Felix von Boehm
Sound Designer: Moritz Unger
Music Composer: Benedikt Schiefer
Production Company: Lupa film, Les Films d’Ici, Mar Films
World Sales: Luxbox
World Sales Phone: + 33 171.37.99.34
World Sales Email: info@luxboxfilms.com
Karim Aïnouz studied architecture in Brasília, and cinema at New York University. He was AD to Todd Haynes, worked on over 20 films as an editor. His first feature Madame Satã (2002) was selected for Un Certain Regard. O Céu de Suely (2006), and Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque te Amo, co-directed with Marcelo Gomes (2009), were both invited at the Venice Festival and won a number of international awards. The Silver Cliff (2011) was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight. In 2014 his films Praia do Futuro (2014), and Cathedrals of Culture (2014), were screened in the Berlinale.
Tempelhof Airport in Berlin is Europe’s largest heritage building. It became a symbol of both National Socialist self-aggrandisement as well as of freedom during the airlift of 1948/49. Since autumn 2015 several hangars have been providing temporary shelter for refugees. Like the other 2,000 people here who have fled their homeland, Ibrahim from Syria and Qutaiba from Iraq dream of being able to make a new start. Full of hope, they work with translators, doctors, language teachers and job agents to prepare for life in their new German home. The lack of private space and communication and administrative barriers are some of the challenges they face while, on the nearby recreation area of Tempelhofer Feld, Berliners and tourists escape their daily routine. Chaos and harmony: two very different worlds in one place. The film is a portrait of a city within a city that is also a snapshot of Europe caught between utopia and crisis.
