11-year-old Mona had to flee Syria with her Kurdish family. This is her first time at a secondary school in rebellious Berlin Wedding. As soon as she sets foot on the school grounds, she is bombarded with a huge number of impressions, including of course the obligatory teasing from her future classmates and seeing students bullying teachers. Her face reflects a real culture shock.
The camera zooms in on Mona’s face and she begins to talk about herself. How she perceives the language, what she thinks. Her gaze is finally captivated by a display case containing trophies and pictures from soccer tournaments. While she is studying the contents, she is approached by Mr. Che, her class teacher. When asked if Mona likes to play football, however, she evades the question. Once in the classroom, she experiences her first English lesson. The teacher, also new to the school, struggles with the rebellious mob. She hopes Mona will come to her rescue by greeting the new pupil in English and asking her a question. Mona stands up and answers all the questions in fluent English, whereupon she naturally becomes a target again by her classmates and is called an ass-kisser. During the break, Mona observes her classmates debating at a soccer goal. They have big plans and want to win a school football championship. The prospect of new shirts and shoes as well as the trophy are a good motivational boost.
Mona finally approaches the group, takes the ball and kicks it straight into the goal. On the one hand, her classmates are stunned, but on the other, they don’t want to back down from their rejection of Mona. As Mona is about to leave the pitch, one of the girls shoots the ball at the back of her head with full force, causing Mona to fall and catapulting her thoughts into the past for a moment. Back in the present, Mona is in the school toilet, dabbing at the wound on her forehead. In front of the mirror, she utters the words “You’re a lion”, which her aunt said to her at the time. This statement does not go uncommented, because Terry hides in one of the toilets to have his peace from the others in the girls’ room. Mona quickly realizes that Terry is an outsider and the two have a certain connection. But she also receives support from another classmate without her knowledge. One of the girls tells Mr. Che (who also works as a coach) about Mona’s football skills and that he should please try to get Mona to join the soccer team. Mona is ultimately persuaded and so begins her new career as a soccer player with the aim of playing in the championship. However, her potential talent does not go completely unnoticed, as a group of boys would also like to win the championship and appear in a good light. They hatch a plan to make the girls lose their desire to train and trigger an unexpected “war” between boys and girls, which ultimately escalates to the point where the whole school is devastated. Naturally, the principal is not very enthusiastic about this and the teaching staff quickly decide that the school will not be taking part in the tournament this year. As all the children’s dreams are now in danger of being dashed, they put aside the dispute and give their all to be able to take part in the championship again.
Conclusion:
Football really isn’t my world, but I would like to give this movie a 1:0.
In a multi-layered way, very different themes are addressed, such as the escape from a country, insights into other cultures, the difference between democracy and dictatorship, diversity and individuality, self-discovery, as well as the rebellious youth that once lived (or still lives) in all of us
The film’s soundtrack was also well chosen and partly dictated the editing. The younger generation, at whom the film is primarily aimed, will certainly appreciate the beats and rap vocals. In any case, the atmosphere at the world premiere in the Haus der Kulturen was very good.
The only thing that bothered me in the long run was the somewhat over-excited/over-loud commentator at the soccer events, who sometimes got even more amped up with energy drinks.
With “Sieger sein” we get a solid German film contribution from which the one or other hyped director could take a leaf out of their book. However, the power behind the film is not entirely surprising, as Detlev Buck appears as co-producer and has already shown in recent years that he can strike a chord with younger audiences with the successful series of Bibbi and Tina films
Cast:
Dileyla Agirman (Mona)
Andreas Döhler (Herr Che)
Sherine Ciara Merai (Jasmin)
Tamira Bwibo (Terrry)
Halima Ilter (Nada Sabri)
Hêvîn Tekin (Tante Helin)
Peri Baumeister (Frau Abbel)
Alireza Ahmadi (Jagar)
Carina Wiese (Frau Burchardt)
Fatima Hamieh (Aysel)
Samira Hamieh (Ayla)
Heidi Tebroke (Gina)
Yumin Hannah Cho (Thi-Le)
Carlotta Su Ipsen (Nadine)
Artemis Kostopoulou (Funda)
Anisa Perk (Rania)
Rankin Duffy (Harry)
Manasse Kiefer (Hussein)
Matteo Mermer (Vedat)
Dominic John Brandl (Food)
Ceci Chuh (Kommentatorin)
Director:
Soleen Yusef
Info & Tickets
https://www.berlinale.de/en/2024/programme/202403796.html
Trailer:
