Familiye

»A debut of astonishing power. It moves us!«

Nordwest Zeitung

»Familiye' tells its story in gripping black-and-white visuals, unfolding a narrative force rarely seen in German cinema.«

cinema.de

Danyal has accepted money to go to jail for someone else. As soon as he’s released, he finds out that it was all for naught: his little brother has gambled it all away and is now in even bigger debt. After their parents died, Danyal accepted the responsibility for his younger brothers – but since Miko has a gambling addiction and Muhammed has Down syndrome, he has his work cut out for him. When Miko’s debts come due and authorities want to put Muhammed into assisted care, the fragile balance of their existence is threatened.

Kubilay Sarikaya and Sedat Kirtan‘s »Familiye« isn’t so much a gangster movie as a perceptive, sympathetic, finally tragic story about how it is to grow up in a gangster environment. Their ›hood‹ is the suburb of Spandau-Neustadt, the small casinos and betting parlors on seedy Lynarstraße. Like their characters, they grew up here, developing and filming their story where they got their start in society. The configuration of their characters, their authentic locations, and the adrenaline-soaked storytelling do not accidentally remind one of Scorsese’s »Mean Streats«. Their first film – one about love, violence, and family – rocks the German independent scene with abandon.