Writer-director Daphne Charizani’s moving, originally told tale of women placed worlds apart (but still closely bound) in times of war opens in a Kurdish refugee camp in Greece. Rojda (Almila Bagriacik) arrives hoping to find both her mother Ferhat (Maryam Boubani) and sister Dilan (Gonca de Haas) signed, sealed, and delivered, but it turns out that the latter remains in Iraq. Dilan is, much to her mother’s anguish, currently aligned with an all-women corps of Kurdish soldiers waging war against ISIS. Rojda works as a translator for the German military. At the camp, Ferhat is having difficulty acclimating. Television is her way of checking in on “my poor town.” The women from the old country with whom Ferhat held court sense trouble when her daughter is around, and are quick to maintain their distance. Rojda’s next assignment will be her toughest; a strictly volunteer mission that has nothing to do with serving her country, and everything to do with using government resources to find a family member. (The very thought of exploiting the military to gather information as to Dilan’s whereabouts is punishable by death.) The solutions reached are relatively simple; the journey refreshingly complex. The 14th annual German Currents Film Festival will this year be held virtually in your living room from November 9-15. For more information click on the Official Website link. (2020) — Scott Marks
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