Film Screening: Winners

New Films from Germany

Mona and her Kurdish family have fled their home in Syria and ended up in Germany in search of a better life but Mona is having a hard time fitting in. She’s still learning German and misses her hometown and playing soccer with her friends. Chaos is the order of the day at her new school where most of the teachers are worn to a frazzle and the students are just as frustrated with their teachers. When Mr. Che the coach of the girls’ soccer team sees Mona’s soccer skills he puts her on the team. Although they are training for an upcoming tournament for all of Berlin’s schools the team is anything but harmonious. Mona is singled out and blamed for the team’s troubles. With the tournament quickly approaching they realize that if they want to win they must stop fighting treat each other as equals and learn the true meaning of teamwork.

Soleen Yusef’s second feature is an inspirational fast-paced coming-of-age film with a fresh young perspective on the importance of family friendship and belonging.

Soleen Yusef was born in Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 1987. At the age of nine she and her family fled to Berlin due to the political tensions in her home country. Originally trained as a singer and an actress in 2008 she began studying fiction directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Her third-year film Trattoria premiered at the 2012 Berlinale. Since making her debut feature film Haus ohne Dach (2016) for which she won awards including the First Steps Award she has been working on international productions for Netflix Amazon Prime and Disney+.

Presented as part of “Kids Kino” in collaboration with the German Film Office

Dir. Soleen Yusef

Germany 2024

119 minutes

German Kurdish with English subtitles

Host or Publisher Goethe-Institut Boston