MOVIE | 'Grandpa's Homecoming,' a Humorous Family Drama Ten Years in the Making
MOVIE | A Humorous Family Drama Years in the Making, 'Grandpa's Homecoming,' a Hit Across Europe for Seven Months
A Moving Tale of Laughter and Tears: 'Grandpa's Homecoming'
'Grandpa's Homecoming,' a family drama humorously depicting the return of a family, who had emigrated to Germany, to their native Turkey after half a century. The film began its theatrical run on Saturday, November 30th, at Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho and other theaters.
Text by YUZU KUROMIYA
Returning to Their Homeland Turkey in a Ramshackle Wagon
Hussein, the patriarch of the Yilmaz family, moved from Turkey to Germany in the mid-1960s to protect his family. This is a moving story of laughter and tears, chronicling the touching struggles of Hussein, now a grandfather, and the family as they pass the baton to the new generation.
The director is Yasemin Samdereli, a second-generation German of Turkish descent. She wrote the screenplay based on her own and her younger sister Nesrin's real-life experiences, revising it more than 50 times.
The completed film resonated deeply across ethnic, cultural, and generational lines, achieving a long run of approximately seven months in Germany and drawing an audience of 1.5 million. It was also screened at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and won the Silver Bear for Best Film and the Best Screenplay Award at the 7th German Film Awards, among numerous other accolades both domestically and internationally.
A Homecoming 3,000 Kilometers Away, for the Entire Family
Fifty years after immigrating to Germany and working tirelessly, Hussein, the patriarch of the Yilmaz family, reached his seventies and had become a grandfather to a large family.
Though the family appears ordinary at first glance, their lives are thrown into disarray when their university-student granddaughter, Canan, becomes pregnant by a boyfriend she's been secretly seeing. Their six-year-old grandson, Cem, struggles with his identity, questioning his nationality as his father is Turkish and his mother German. Meanwhile, the eldest son, Veli, and the second son, Mohamed, still bicker despite being adults.
One day, the grandfather suddenly announces that the entire family will travel to their ancestral village. Despite everyone's objections, they reluctantly agree, unable to resist the grandfather's strong wishes. Carrying their individual worries and hopes, the family embarks on a journey to their homeland, Turkey.
'Grandpa's Homecoming' comically portrays the cross-cultural interactions across three generations, as the grandchildren grapple with life in Turkey. We invite you to witness the grandfather's efforts and the beginning of the family's journey toward their future.
'Grandpa's Homecoming'
Now showing at Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho since Saturday, November 30th
Director | Yasemin Samdereli
Screenplay | Yasemin & Nesrin Samdereli
Starring | Vedat Erincin, Rafael Kosouros, Lilay Hüser
Distribution | Pandora
2011 / Germany / 101 min / Original Title: 'Almanya-Willkommen in Deutschland'
http://www.ojii-chan.com
© 2011 - Concorde Films