Description
When Saher fled Syria overnight in 2015, he was sure he would be able to bring his wife Lubna and his two sons to Germany very quickly. But then family reunification was suspended and a long period of waiting began. The lawyer from Salamiyya quickly integrates, finds work, learns German and makes friends. Among them Insa, the mother of director Hille Norden. After four years, when hope is almost lost, finally the good news: Saher’s family will be arriving soon! The joy is great, but so are the worries: what will happen when Saher, who has known and loved the Germans for four years, meets his family, who have had to live without him for so long and have experienced four more years of war. SOUL SETTLEMENT accompanies Saher, Lubna, Melad (13) and Zeen (10) and Insa over the course of their first year together. The film shows the consequences of involuntary separation and uprooting and lovingly discusses the possibilities and limits of integration in the context of an intimate family portrait.
Director Biography – Hille Norden
2020 MY BELOVED WULF in development fiction, 20 min, script and directing first price at the Schleswig-Holsteinischer Drehbuchpreis 2020
2020 Adam’s Clay in development fiction, 90 min, script and directing Screenplay funding: FFHSH Production: Detail film
2020 Fucking For Freedom in development fiction, 100 min, script and directing Screenplay funding BKM Production: Hanfgarn & Ufer
2019 FIRE PLAY (WT Pädo-Boi!) In production fiction, 20 min, script and directing Production: Hanfgarn & Ufer Nord,
nominated for the Schleswig-Holstein Drehbuchpreis
2019 Shortlist of Up-And-Coming Drehbuchpreis Hannover
2020 Funded by FFHSH
2019 SOUL SETTLEMENT (WT Baba: Home is somewhere else) Official Selection Dok.fest München Competition
documentary, 90 min production and director Supported by FFHSH, the state capital Kiel and the Kulturlandesverband SH
2019 Euphoric years documentary, 13 min, director and production
2017 KHELLO BROTHERS documentary, 79 min, director and production Distribution: Barnsteiner, national launch: 2019
Supported by Filmwerkstatt Kiel and the State of Schleswig-Holstein
2017 FIVE PERCENT HOME fiction, 13 min, production Supported by the Landesverband Jugend und Film
2017 ELLI fiction, 6 min, production Supported by the Landesverband Jugend und Film
2016 JOLA fiction, 80 min, book and production Prize: Children and Youth Culture Prize of the state capital Kiel, 1st place
Supported by Filmwerkstatt Kiel and the Landesverband Jugend und Film SH
Director Statement
I stumbled into the making of this personal film when Saher, a good friend of my family, received the surprising news that his wife and sons could finally join him after four years of waiting. I grew up with my mother Insa in an open house, refugee aid was an important part of my youth. When the arrival of Saher’s family, for whom we were waiting together with him, was imminent, I wondered, despite all the joy, how my understanding of integration would change. The year that I had the privilege of accompanying Saher, his family and Insa made me painfully aware of how deep the injuries caused by war, displacement and loss of home are. Arriving when you don’t want to leave at all is difficult. That is why, in my opinion, a warm, open and patient attitude on our part as the welcoming country is obligatory and it is important to discuss the limits and possibilities of integration honestly.
Credits
Hille Norden
Director
Hille Norden
Writer
Hille Norden
Producer
Mohamad Almousilly
Editing
Specifications
Project Title (Original Language): Heimat sucht Seele
Project Type: Documentary, Feature
Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes
Completion Date: March 13, 2021
Production Budget: 35,000 EUR
Country of Origin: Germany
Country of Filming: Germany
Language: Arabic, German
Shooting Format: 4K
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Film Color: Color
First-time Filmmaker: No
Student Project: No
