A tragedy born of prejudices and fear transformed into a comedy. Spirited and explosive Rabiye, a German-Turkish woman, spends her days taking care of her children and managing a house in Bremen. Shortly after the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, her son Murat is accused of terrorism in the US and becomes one of the first prisoners sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Finding herself in unfamiliar waters, Rabiye learns English and uses every tool at her disposal, like her lawyer Bernhard, to determinedly pull at the heartstrings of the officials in Washington.

Featuring an exceptional performance by Turkish-German comedian Meltem Kaptan, director Andreas Dresen’s film, which screened in competition at Berlinale, can be called the epitome of a character and situation comedy. The film aptly captures the exposed nerve endings Western paranoia and the resulting determination to enact revenge on the wrong doers, no matter the price. The film is also an act of revenge, and a tantalisingly memorable one at that, on behalf of the people who have for centuries been constructed as being “other” or “different”. The events take place over five years and play out in the style of the Marx Brothers, possess the critical humour of Monty Python, but cover a sadness under an outer shell of satire. “After all, someone’s passport or nationality should not determine whether or not we help them”, Dresen emphasises.