And Along Come Tourists

Alternative service at a youth meeting centre in Poland? This wasn't exactly at the top of Sven's list – but it was the only place he could get. In Oswiecim, a town that achieved grievous notoriety under its German name Auschwitz, Sven is supposed to look after the singular old concentration camp survivor Krzeminski, who till now has successfully squashed all at­tempts to make his life more pleasant. He stubbornly stays on and works at this memorial, as he has his whole life long, restoring old luggage that had been taken from the prisoners before they were murdered in the camp. Krzeminski makes it very clear to Sven what he thinks of having a young German, of all people, telling him what to do and not to do.
When Sven meets the Polish interpreter Ania from the museum and falls in love with her, he gets to experience a life beyond the youth meeting centre. But what is a normal life in a place where nothing is normal? Where faux pas, prejudices and taboos are ever present on the one hand and the influx of memorial tourists on the other? When Ania applies for a scholarship in Brussels, Sven decides to give up and leave. He stands there at the station with his bags packed. But in the end the tourists keep coming along, like every day, and Sven has to come to a decision ... (Berlinale)