
Lebanese actor Georges Khabbaz and German actress Hanna Schygulla in Yunan directed by Ameer Fakher Eldin.
The film Yunan by director and screenwriter Ameer Fakher Eldin is among the 19 films competing for the Golden Bear at the 75th edition of the Berlin Film Festival, which will be held from Feb. 13 to 23, 2025. This poignant drama tells the story of an exiled Arab writer who travels to a secluded island in Germany with the thought of ending his life. There, he meets an elderly woman who rekindles his desire to live and questions the possibility of giving life a second chance.
Fakher Eldin's second feature film stars Lebanese actor Georges Khabbaz in the lead role alongside Sibel Kekilli, Ali Souleyman, Hanna Schygulla and Laura Sophia Landauer. The film's music is composed by Suad Bushnaq.
Fakher Eldin is a talented director and screenwriter based in Hamburg, born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1991, to Syrian parents from the occupied Golan Heights. His cinematic work is distinguished by a deep exploration of themes of identity, hope, and destiny. Yunan continues this approach, offering a sensitive take on human emotions through an intimate and poignant mise-en-scène. Fakher Eldin gained international attention with his first feature film, The Stranger.
This film debuted at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the prestigious Edipo Re award in 2021. It also received several accolades, including the Best Arab Film Award at the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) in 2021, and the Shadi Abdel-Salam Award for Best Film at the International Critics' Week at the CIFF. More recently, The Stranger was nominated at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Best Director and won the award for Best Cinematography. With Yunan, Fakher Eldin reaffirmed his talent and commitment to addressing universal subjects with rare sensitivity while exploring deeply personal and societal issues.
A festival at the heart of contemporary issues
The 2025 edition of the film festival promises to be a major event in world cinema. 19 films will compete for the Golden Bear this year, including several renowned directors returning to the German capital. Among them are Romanian Radu Jude with his dark comedy Kontinental '25 and South Korean Hong Sang-soo with What Does That Nature Say to You. American director Richard Linklater also presents his new film Blue Moon, a work about composer Lorenz Hart, featuring a star-studded cast including Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley. Out of competition, highly anticipated films will also be screened, such as Mickey 17, a science fiction film by Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho, and the biopic Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold.
The Berlin Film Festival is recognized for its political commitment, and this year will be no exception. Tricia Tuttle, the new festival director, stated that films with a political scope have never been avoided by the festival. Films like Timestamp, a documentary by Kateryna Gornostai on life in Ukraine after the Russian invasion, will be in competition. The 75th edition of the festival also coincides with the German national elections, but the festival's management has stated that there will be no partisan politics in the programming, although the festival will continue to encourage citizens to exercise their right to vote. Finally, to celebrate its 75th anniversary, the festival will receive additional financial support of 1.9 million euros from the German Ministry of Culture, allowing it to maintain the quality and diversity of the programming for this anniversary edition.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.