Inbetween Worlds

The German soldier Jesper (Ronald Zehrfeld) has lost his brother in Afghanistan. Despite this, he returns and his unit’s mission is to protect a small remote village from the Taliban’s growing influence. The young Afghan interpreter Tarik (Mohamad Mohsen) is assigned to work with him. Although Jesper has problems with his nerves, he tries to get on with his work, to win the trust of the locals and their allies, the Arbak militia, with Tarik’s help. However, the differences between Tarik’s and Jesper’s worlds are too great to resolve, and Jesper’s consciousness and the orders given to him always contradict each other. Soon the Taliban start threatening Tarik for working with the Germans and the young interpreter hatches a plan to get his sister out of a town and bring her to the German-controlled village. Jesper goes against direct orders given to him by his superior officers and the consequences are catastrophic.

Feo Aladag is a writer, director and producer, and a winner of the German Film Prize. “Inbetween Worlds”, filmed in Afghanistan, is her second film, after her renowned debut, “When We Leave”. The story about an unusual friendship between a German soldier and an Afghan interpreter is more relevant than ever before: in 2014, the German armed forces will leave Afghanistan after a ten-year mission. They will leave behind a country that is still at war, as well as many local co-workers whom the Taliban see as collaborators with the occupation armies.

Germany 2014