„Über uns von uns“

In the organizer's words:

Director: Rand Beiruty

Movie length 92 min.

Original language Arabic, German, English with German subtitles

ABOUT US follows the lives of seven teenage girls on their way to adulthood in Eberswalde, a provincial town in eastern Germany, 55 km from Berlin. As new arrivals in the town, the girls not only have to overcome the typical challenges of teenage life such as friendships, school and self-discovery, but also have to get used to a new culture and environment and come to terms with the nuances of their identity as immigrants and refugees. Their experiences of displacement, cultural adaptation and the pressure to assimilate add layers to their narratives. Alongside their everyday lives, the director leads workshops in which the girls explore their hopes, dreams and fears through writing, music and acting, and then write scenes to perform on camera. These scenes are transformed into dream sequences in which the girls imagine the future in order to process their painful experiences and playfully transform them into future perspectives.

Directors Statement:

In ABOUT US FROM US, prejudices are challenged by unique dreams and hopes. The film offers a glimpse into the dreams of young women who are often overlooked and live in a rather forbidding environment, revealing the complex questions they ask themselves about identity and belonging. When we first met, the young women thought I was their age and were surprised to learn that I was ten years older, unmarried and studying in Germany while living apart from my family in Jordan. We immediately felt connected and formed a strong bond. As an Arab woman currently living in Germany, I can relate very well to the themes of the movie as I had similar hopes, dreams and questions when I was their age. Nevertheless, I am aware that my status as a PhD student in Germany is very different from that of refugees and immigrants. I want to use this privileged position to tell the girls' story together with them. As a director, I see the young women as active participants and not as "subjects" of the film. This feeling is supported by the choice of a performative and participatory narrative approach, in which the girls re-enact their own experiences through role-playing and acting. The process of filmmaking is meant to be a form of discovery and expression that helps the girls better understand themselves and work towards healing past traumas as they discover commonalities and attempt to create their new reality. ABOUT US FROM US is, at its core, a story about growth, resilience and finding your own voice.

الإنسان ما بيظل نفس ما هو،

دائما بتغير.

"When you grow up and look back, you realize how much you've changed"

Distributed by: Real Fiction