Kaddish for a Friend

About The Film

A Russian Jewish WWII veteran and Palestinian teen form an unlikely friendship in the tragicomic KADDISH FOR A FRIEND, a stirring debut by Moscow-born German filmmaker Leo Khasin. Growing up in a Lebanese refugee camp, 14-year-old Ali (Neil Belakhdar) has learned to hate Jews before escaping with his family and relocating to public housing in Berlin’s Kreuzberg quarter. He tries to gain acceptance among his Arab peers by targeting an elderly Russian Jew, Alexander (Ryszard Ronczewski), vandalizing the old man’s apartment and defacing the walls with anti-Semitic graffiti. Threatened with deportation, the teen is forced to apologize, sparking a feisty relationship with Alexander, which evolves from mutual distrust to codependence. Based on actual events and embodying the spirit of building bridges of understanding, KADDISH FOR A FRIEND unfolds with gritty realism and a light touch.