Your Beauty Is Worth Nothing...

Twelve-year-old Veysel, who came to Vienna from Turkey with his parents, feels like a stranger in his new country. At school he doesn’t understand the language, and at home his family is on the verge of crisis. The only bright spot on Veysel’s horizon is his great love Ana, a classmate who knows nothing of his feelings. A neighbor named Cem, a kindhearted macho man with a complicated love life, helps the boy navigate between dream and reality. An exceptional talent of Austrian film, Hüseyin Tabak skillfully employs the contrast between the boy’s romantic-idyllic imagination and the stressful conditions in an immigrant community forced to live under the constant threat of deportation. The film’s title refers to a work by Turkish poet Asik Veysel, whose melancholy songs are beloved by his many compatriots spread throughout Europe. For the shy young outsider, a German translation of one of his poems represents more than a chance to make it in school; it may also help spark his beloved Ana’s interest. Abdulkadir Tuncer is outstanding in the lead role. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)