WINNER YOUTH JURY COMPETITION: NACHBARN

At the Syrian-Turkish border in the 1980s: Sero starts school and does not understand a single word. The teacher from Damascus speaks Arabic, bans Kurdish, revers Assad and rants about Jews. Sero does not care too much about school; after all, his beloved neighbours are Jews. He would much rather spend time with his uncle or annoy border guards who protect a border that separates families. With powerful visuals, Mano Khalil humorously portrays the formative years for the current situation. The story has been inspired by his own childhood memories.