altonale Filmwerkstatt: Heimatversuch

D/SY 2026, 60 min., OmdU Arabic, English, German, film by Elke Sasse and Ziko Ghunaim

A cornfield. For Mohammed "Ziko" Ghunaim, this is Germany for two years after his escape from Syria in 2015: "Waiting in the middle of nowhere..." When he was able to travel, he found inspiration in a disused coal mine, a VW Beetle in Wolfsburg and memories of the war in Syria in Berlin. In 2018, he was able to move to Hamburg, and three years later he was a theater maker at the Thalia Theater. Hamburg becomes a new home for him. But then there is the other home: Damascus, Syria. In the news, on his cell phone during video calls with his parents, in old photos with friends. He bakes "memory bread", listens to "Feiruz at the open window" and, like his jasmine in the living room, he waits for firm roots to form - and flowers. 10 years in Germany is not a straight path: the euphoria of a new life in safety is mixed with melancholy about the lost homeland. And every now and then the "monsters" wake up again, nightmares that bring up old traumas. The film accompanies Ziko through these years and interweaves the stations in Germany with videos and photos from his archive - and with his texts: poetic fragments, snapshots that reflect his journey and run through the film. Then comes December 8, 2024, when the regime in Damascus falls... Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.