Danish-Palestinian filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel (*1979) is currently the guest of the DAAD's Artists-in-Berlin program. His documentaries give profound insights into the living circumstances of refugees, with Ain el-Helweh, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon and the place of his childhood, playing a central role. A WORLD NOT OURS (2012) draws on current footage and old home movies to show the three generations that live there: his grandfather, his uncle, and his resigned friends from his youth. How fleeing to Greece, a place of longing, turned into a nightmare for one of them is documented in XENOS (2013). Another of their number returns to Ain el-Helweh after years of failed attempts to be recognized as a refugee in Europe in A MAN RETURNED (2015). It's accompanied by 20 HANDSHAKES FOR PEACE (2014) between Arafat and Rabin – and many disappointed hopes. (bik) (5.7.)
