UMMAH Among Friends

Daniel is a world-weary cop at age 24; his hangdog look reflects his stressful job with the German Intelligence Service. One night he nearly dies after a shootout with skinheads. Daniel’s handlers send him underground to the Neukölln area of Berlin with its large immigrant population. Miserable and alone, he mostly holes up in his decrepit apartment and gets drunk. Upon stumbling into a phone shop run by a Turkish-Arab German named Abbas, Daniel is adopted into the welcoming Muslim community. Though he nearly screws up his new friendships, he relaxes under the easy camaraderie of his neighbors. Daniel witnesses the racial profiling of his buddies, while the Service is pressuring him to come back. Now he faces a Snowdenesque decision. Should he protect the innocent and pose a threat from the inside? UMMAH AMONG FRIENDS is a complex portrayal of corruption and the human kindness that can combat it. (In German, Turkish, and Arabic with subtitles) —B.B.