Tu, felix Australia? And a film review
Mar. 17th, 2012 08:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThings you learn at the Leipzig Book Fair (aka the smaller scale spring book fair happening right now, for non Germans; the big international one is in Frankfurt in autumn): Australian publishers are currently in a generous mood towards their authors. How so? Well, Australia will be the guest of honour at Frankfurt later this year. Normally, this would simply mean that come fall, a couple of Australian authors would be brought to Frankfurt along with some politicians. However, yesterday a German publisher told me he has an Australian author to care for in Leipzig already, and is not the only one, because, it seems, some of the Australian publishers thought their authors would enjoy getting to know Germany in spring already.
"You know, I could present my books in Australia," said am author standing next to me. "I would totally go."
Australians aren't the only international guests. On Sunday Cassandra Clare, aka Cassie Claire of Draco in leatherpants and plagiarism scandal fame, will read from her books. I must admit this makes me feel old for even remembering the plagiarism scandal. (And the first BTVS episode was broadcast 15 years ago? ZOMG!)
*****
Before heading off to the Leipzig Book Fair, I caught an excellent new movie on the big screen, Kaddisch für einen Freund ("Kaddish for a friend" - I do hope it will get an international release, and then it might be called something else, of course). It's a friendship against the odds story between a Palestinensian (by way of Libanon camps) teenager, Ali Mehsalem, and an old Russian Jew, Alexander "Alik" Samskoy, who both ended up in Berlin for various plotty reasons. Early in the film, Ali whose family has just moved out of asylum homes and into the flat beneath Alexander's, wants to connect with the local gang of teenage Muslims and in order to impress them vandalizes the old man's apartment. His mother, afraid this will cause the entire family to be sent back to Libanon ("technically, Libanon is at peace now", an apparatchik says meaningfully), makes Ali offer to renovate and restore the flat. While understandably furious and not wanting anything to do with the boy, Alexander Samskoy is forced to accept the offer because he, too, has officials breathing down his neck (in his case, they doubt he can live on his own at his age and want him to move into a retirement home). So the majority of the film is about these two while working in the flat learning about each other and eventually forming a deep connection.
If this seems overly optimistic, it doesn't feel that way when playing out on screen, because the actors really sell it, and the script doesn't make the mistake of letting Alexander Samskoy get over his vandalized flat or Ali about an entire life of being told anyone Jewish is evil (he himself was born in Libanon; it was his grandfather who had to leave Palestine/the new Israel) immediately or after just one glitch. It also avoids making a right or wrong stand on the current Israeli-Palestinians situation (the two times Our Heroes attempt to talk about this, it derails into mutual name calling pretty quickly, so they avoid it after that). Alexander and Ali both come to fulfill emotional needs. They're both lonely. Alexander is a widower, what happened with his son is increasingly obious, while he has friends, he is too cranky to be sociable often, while Ali struggles with the sense of not belonging anywhere, being ridiculed as not tough and macho enough by the local hudlums and unable to confide in his father about his artistic dreams.
I love odd couple/friendships born out of enmity stories when they're told well, which this one was, and it pushed a lot of buttons for me. The mixture of drama, humour, quiet and loud moments was excellent as well. Highly recommended.
"You know, I could present my books in Australia," said am author standing next to me. "I would totally go."
Australians aren't the only international guests. On Sunday Cassandra Clare, aka Cassie Claire of Draco in leatherpants and plagiarism scandal fame, will read from her books. I must admit this makes me feel old for even remembering the plagiarism scandal. (And the first BTVS episode was broadcast 15 years ago? ZOMG!)
*****
Before heading off to the Leipzig Book Fair, I caught an excellent new movie on the big screen, Kaddisch für einen Freund ("Kaddish for a friend" - I do hope it will get an international release, and then it might be called something else, of course). It's a friendship against the odds story between a Palestinensian (by way of Libanon camps) teenager, Ali Mehsalem, and an old Russian Jew, Alexander "Alik" Samskoy, who both ended up in Berlin for various plotty reasons. Early in the film, Ali whose family has just moved out of asylum homes and into the flat beneath Alexander's, wants to connect with the local gang of teenage Muslims and in order to impress them vandalizes the old man's apartment. His mother, afraid this will cause the entire family to be sent back to Libanon ("technically, Libanon is at peace now", an apparatchik says meaningfully), makes Ali offer to renovate and restore the flat. While understandably furious and not wanting anything to do with the boy, Alexander Samskoy is forced to accept the offer because he, too, has officials breathing down his neck (in his case, they doubt he can live on his own at his age and want him to move into a retirement home). So the majority of the film is about these two while working in the flat learning about each other and eventually forming a deep connection.
If this seems overly optimistic, it doesn't feel that way when playing out on screen, because the actors really sell it, and the script doesn't make the mistake of letting Alexander Samskoy get over his vandalized flat or Ali about an entire life of being told anyone Jewish is evil (he himself was born in Libanon; it was his grandfather who had to leave Palestine/the new Israel) immediately or after just one glitch. It also avoids making a right or wrong stand on the current Israeli-Palestinians situation (the two times Our Heroes attempt to talk about this, it derails into mutual name calling pretty quickly, so they avoid it after that). Alexander and Ali both come to fulfill emotional needs. They're both lonely. Alexander is a widower, what happened with his son is increasingly obious, while he has friends, he is too cranky to be sociable often, while Ali struggles with the sense of not belonging anywhere, being ridiculed as not tough and macho enough by the local hudlums and unable to confide in his father about his artistic dreams.
I love odd couple/friendships born out of enmity stories when they're told well, which this one was, and it pushed a lot of buttons for me. The mixture of drama, humour, quiet and loud moments was excellent as well. Highly recommended.
