Tempelhof Airport in Berlin is Europe’s largest heritage building. It became a symbol of both National Socialist self-aggrandisement as well as of freedom during the airlift of 1948/49. Since autumn 2015 several hangars have been providing temporary shelter for refugees. Like the other 2,000 people here who have fled their homeland, Ibrahim from Syria and Qutaiba from Iraq dream of being able to make a new start. Full of hope, they work with translators, doctors, language teachers and job agents to prepare for life in their new German home. The lack of private space and communication and administrative barriers are some of the challenges they face while, on the nearby recreation area of Tempelhofer Feld, Berliners and tourists escape their daily routine. Chaos and harmony: two very different worlds in one place.
Karim Aïnouz spent a year following these men in search of a place they can call home. The film’s sensitive and well-composed images capture their lives that are shaped by uncertainty, stress and anguish, but also jollity and aspirations. The building’s architecture and the changing seasons add a surreal dimension. A portrait of a city within a city that is also a snapshot of Europe caught between utopia and crisis.