Turtles Can Fly – Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand (2004)

Directed by: Bahman Ghobadi | 98 minutes | drama, war | Actors: Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Saddam Hossein Feysal, Hiresh Feysal Rahman, Abdol Rahman Karim, Ajil Zibari

It seems such a peaceful scene: a green, rolling landscape with boys and girls picking strawberries. The sun is shining brightly, the children work slowly and concentrated, kneeling above the grass with their baskets on their backs. A boy who is missing both arms simply picks with his mouth. It’s just not strawberries that are picked here, but land mines.

The international co-production ‘Turtles Can Fly’ impressively shows the consequences of a war. The film is set in a Kurdish refugee camp where displaced children try to lead a somewhat normal life. On the one hand, we see the real survivors, such as Satelliet, a 13-year-old scavenger who does all kinds of chores with his even younger helpers. If antennas need to be installed, mines cleared or weapons purchased, Satellite can take care of it.

Opposite this are the physically and mentally mutilated, such as Hengov, a clairvoyant boy who is missing both arms. He forms an alternative family with his sister Agrin and their little brother. The boy is blind and the sister can no longer handle life. The reason for this will become apparent later in the film. Then Agrin’s dislike of the little boy is declared, who turns out not to be her brother.

Director Ghobadi has asked children from the Kurdish camps for most of the roles. That explains the authentic appearance and the naturalness with which the young actors play. Avaz Latif in particular makes a great impression as the traumatized Agrin. The oldish, deadly tired look with which the young girl looks at the world says more about the horrors of war than any explicit scene.

Not only the acting is excellent, the visuals are also beautiful, the story is fascinating and there is even room for a bit of humor. But what makes Turtles Can Fly a truly wonderful film is the way Ghobadi tells his story. Without accusations against Iraq, Turkey or America and without sentimentalism, the director has made a poignant anti-war film. By focusing entirely on the young camp inmates, he shows the deepest wounds that war can inflict. The children never become mere victims and that only makes their fate more harrowing.

Beautiful monument to all the little strawberry pickers of this world.