Description:

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Kaddish for a Friend, directed by Leo Khasin, 2011. German with English subtitles. 94 minutes.

A Muslim teen Ali Messalam and his family move into Berlin's Kreuzberg area, where he is pressured by his friends to vandalize the apartment of his elderly, feisty Russian neighbor, Alexander Zamskoy. To avoid being deported, Ali's parents send him back to Zamskoy's place to repair the damage. This coming-of-age story, inspired by two real people, is a stirring feature debut by Moscow-born German filmmaker Leo Khasin.