Before Snowfall

An emotive, psychological road movie about the traditional conflicts between the individual and society, between honor and conscience. As the only man in his family, teenager Siyar must take on the responsibility of his elder sister Nermin’s wedding. But when the young woman takes off to Istanbul with her beloved – who is not, however, her arranged husband – the boy must undergo a thankless journey across the border in order to murder his sister, as tradition dictates, for honor’s sake. During his illegal journey he meets Kurds all across Europe whose help and support he can rely on; such solidarity brings a degree of safety but it also carries moral obligations that may not be violated with impunity. How difficult it is to be a man concentrating on a task in a freezing foreign land! To make matters worse, he falls in love for the first time, and he often dreams of his happy childhood in the apple orchards of Kurdistan. Behold the internal maturation of a young man who, with the growing strength of his soul’s capacity for feeling and compassion, tragically distances himself from the remorseless moral norms of his community. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)