Screened at the Dhaka International Film Festival 2014, Si-o-se Pol (33-acre bridge in English) is a “haunting portrait of an immigrant” commented Frank Göhre, winner of German Script Award. The film tagline is the Last days of Parvis Karimpour. But he continues with life with the hope of finding his daughter in Madrid – one of the largest migrant’s cities in Europe.
In an interview with the Dhaka Tribune, director Henrik Peschel talks about the film: “Parvis travels to Europe illegally. He has no passport. Today many people go to Madrid from Asia and Africa for work, for its geographical location and to get a better life. For example, now, many Syrians are trying to get into Europe, fleeing their war-torn country.”
This is a global problem as well as Europe’s, says Peschel.
“So, we want to spread the film across countries. I’m happy to be able to screen it in Bangladesh. I want to go to every country. We’ve been in many festivals. The Dhaka International Film Festival is also known in Germany for its good films. Not too many people know about Bangladesh.
“I will be going to the Berlin Film Festival, to be held in February and will tell people about the Dhaka International Film Festival and Bangladesh.”
He also served as a jury at the Dhaka festival. “It’s been good for me as I could watch many quality films from different countries.”
Winner of Montblanc Script Award 2010 at Filmfest Hamburg, Peschel last year shot the film about a Persian fugitive in the old town of Madrid, where he had conducted research on the migrants beforehand. The seven languages spoken in Si-o-se Pol, shows the real diversity of immigration in Europe in 2012. Peschel cast the main roles with successful German cinema actors Ramin Yazdani (Iron Sky) and Pheline Roggan (Soul Kitchen).
“We’re a multicultural team: I’m a German director and writer, main actor is a Persian man, we’ve Italian and Arabic and have used seven languages, which is unusual for German films.”
Peschel says: “People in Bangladesh understand this film because many people go abroad. It’s a common problem here. Audiences in Dhaka, after the screening, told me that they totally understand what the film is about, and they liked it. I was happy to see the reactions here. It was very interesting how they react in Germany too.”
Facing death, terminally ill Parvis Karimpour (Ramin Yazdani) wants to reconcile with his daughter Nasrin. He and his fellow African travellers are dumped from a boat near the Spanish coast at dawn. He makes his way to Madrid where he believes his only child, who fled from Iran years ago, may now live.
Finding shelter in a city which is battered by the economic crisis, Parvis meets two other struggling migrants. The Italian Fabrizio (Christian Concilio), a failed piano player, survives on odd cleaning jobs and a spoilt young German, Almut (Pheline Roggan), who followed her boyfriend to Madrid. Looking for a direction in life, she dreams of opening a jewellery shop. The search for Nasrin becomes their common quest. Parvis regains hope, while his newfound optimism snaps Fabrizio and Almut out of their lethargy. Following a new clue, the unlikely threesome set off northwards in Almut’s car.