''Almanya: Welcome to Germany'' (german: Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland) (''Almanya'' is

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

for Germany) is a 2011 German

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Yasemin Şamdereli Yasemin Şamdereli (born 15 July 1973 in Dortmund, West Germany) is a German actress, screenwriter and film director. Her film '' Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland'' had its U.S. premiere at the Berlin and Beyond Film Festival in San Francisc ...

. The film premiered at the 61st

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

in the section ''competition'' and won the

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...

2011 in the categories Best Script and Best Film. The tragic comedy dramatizes the question of identity and belonging for former Turkish guest workers in Germany and their descendants. The film opened in German cinemas on 10 March and was the fourth most successful German film of 2011 with 1.5 million viewers.

Cast

Aylin Tezel Aylin Tezel (; born 29 November 1983) is a German actress and dancer. She was born in Bünde. Her father is a Turkish-born medical doctor practicing in Bielefeld, Germany, and her mother is a nurse. She is a middle child, having an older sister ...

as Canan * Vedat Erincin as Hüseyin *

Fahri Yardım Fahri Ogün Yardım (born 4 July 1980) is a German actor. Biography Yardım was born in Hamburg, Germany, where his parents moved from Turkey. He is best known for his portrayal of Hüseyin in ''Almanya – Welcome to Germany'' and as inves ...

as Hüseyin (young) * Lilay Huser as Fatma *

Demet Gül Demet Gül (born 1982, Stuttgart, West Germany) is a German-Turkish actress. Life and career Gül grew up as a daughter of Turkish immigrants in Stuttgart. She completed her theatre study at the Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts i ...

as Fatma (young) * Aykut Kayacık as Veli * Aycan Vardar as Veli (young) * Ercan Karacayli as Muhamed * Kaan Aydogdu as Muhamed (young) * Şiir Eloğlu as Leyla * Aliya Artuc as Leyla (young) *

Petra Schmidt-Schaller Petra Schmidt-Schaller (born 28 August 1980) is a German actress. She is noted for the roles of ''Helene'' in '' Runaway Horse'' alongside Ulrich Noethen, Ulrich Tukur and Katja Riemann, and ''Maud Brewster'' in '' The Sea Wolf'' (2008 ProSieb ...

as Gabi *

Denis Moschitto Denis Moschitto (born 22 June 1977) is a German actor best known for his roles in ''Kebab Connection'' (2005), ''Chiko'' (2008) and '' In the Fade'' (2017). Early life Moschitto was born in Cologne, West Germany, to an Italian father and a T ...

as Ali *

Axel Milberg Axel Theodor Klaus Milberg (born 1 August 1956) is a German actor. His most prominent role is that of ''Tatort'' investigator Klaus Borowski. Selected filmography * ''After Five in the Forest Primeval'' (1995) * ' (1996) * ''Father's Day'' (1 ...

as a German official *

Tim Seyfi Timur Seyfettin Ölmez (born 10 August 1971) better known as Tim Seyfi, is a Turkish-German actor. In 2017 he played his first leading role as Commissioner Pascha in a TV series of the same name. Filmography Film Television Awards In the 2001 ...

as a vegetable trader *

Aglaia Szyszkowitz Aglaia Szyszkowitz (born 11 January 1968) is an Austrian actress. She has appeared in more than seventy films since 1995. Filmography Film References External links * 1968 births Living people Austrian film actresses {{Aus ...

as a doctor *

Katharina Thalbach Katharina Thalbach (; actually ''Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach''; born 19 January 1954) is a German actress and stage director. She played theatre at the Berliner Ensemble and at the Volksbühne Berlin, and was actress in the film ''The T ...

as a woman in the subway *

Saskia Vester Saskia Vester (born 24 July 1959) is a German actress and author. Life Vester was born in Saarbrücken, the daughter of the biochemist and environmentalist Frederic Vester and the sister of actress . After completing her training at the , V ...

as a neighbour

Plot

Six year-old Cenk Yılmaz begins to question his identity in his German school one day when he isn't chosen for either the German or the Turkish soccer team. He is the son of Ali, of Turkish heritage, and his German wife, Gabi, and Cenk cannot speak Turkish. At a family meal his Grandmother Fatma declares to the family her newly acquired German citizenship. At the same meal, Grandfather Hüseyin tells the family that he has bought a house in Turkey that he wants to use as a summer home. In order to renovate the house, he wants to travel to Turkey with the whole family. Cenk's 22-year-old cousin Canan is pregnant with the child of her British boyfriend David but she has not told the family yet. She begins to tell Cenk the story of how their Grandfather came to Germany in the 1960s as the 1,000,001st guest worker to help fill the worker shortage. She explains how Grandfather Hüseyin brought his family to Germany afterward, the dreams and worries that they brought with them, and the difficulties they faced. Together, the family flies to Turkey where they rent a bus to drive to their old hometown in East Anatolia to see their new house. Hüseyin guesses that Canan is pregnant and reacts with understanding. Hüseyin receives an invitation to give a speech at an official thank-you ceremony for guest workers at Bellevue Palace. After driving further, Hüseyin suddenly dies and since he recently received German citizenship, Turkish authorities refuse to allow him to be buried in a Muslim cemetery. Instead, the family brings his body to his old hometown and they bury him there. Cenk sees all the generations of his family in their various ages collected around the grave. The house bought by Hüseyin turns out to be a ruin. His son, Muhamed, decides to stay in Turkey to rebuild it, since he is unemployed in Germany. The rest of the family returns to Germany. Cenk gives the speech that Hüseyin prepared in front of Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

Awards

* 2011 German Film Award

for Best Script in Gold and Best Film in Silver

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Almanya Welcome To Germany 2011 films 2011 comedy-drama films 2010s German-language films German comedy-drama films 2010s Turkish-language films Films set in West Germany Films set in Germany Films set in Turkey 2011 multilingual films German multilingual films 2010s German films