Half portions

Content

At 12 years old, Turkish Umut already has a really big mouth. He wants to be a policeman or an agent. He thinks he's so cool and likes to risk a fat lip, because his police ambitions don't go down well with his big brother's gang. They would much rather have him steal mobile phones and rip people off. The 13-year-old Luka, on the other hand, lives isolated in a run-down social flat. He seems traumatised, is mute and can only make contact with the outside world with the help of a bizarre hand puppet. When he finds his mother dead, his world collapses. He runs straight into Umut's arms, who has chosen him as the victim of his first robbery. This chance encounter develops into an unusual friendship in which the two contrasting characters feel more and more how much they need each other. In the streets of Stuttgart, they both experience what is probably the most exciting day of their lives together, by the end of which they have grown up a good deal.

"Halbe Portionen" was made as my diploma film at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. I completed my studies in feature film directing with it in 2011. In my graduation film, I dealt with topics that I encountered while working in a youth centre in Cologne. In the socially deprived district of Mülheim, the children told me many stories that touched me deeply. Together with producer Kathrin Tabler, I developed the script for "Halbe Portionen" from these stories. The film combines dramatic themes with a refreshing story of friendship, using humour to take the viewer along on the journey. The film was shot in Stuttgart and the surrounding area. We cast more than three hundred boys for the roles of the two main actors. "Halbe Portionen" was awarded the Max Ophüls Prize and the Golden Sparrow, among others.