CENTRAL AIRPORT THF
Germany, 2018, 100 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Karim Ainouz.
This is an arresting documentary, especially in the light of the migrant movements from Africa and the Middle East to Europe. From 2015, the numbers increased considerably, with Germany leading in accepting a large number of migrants but other Middle European countries closing their borders.
The central airport of the title is Templehof, the Berlin airport.
This film gives a brief history of the airport itself, its being established in the 1920s and immediately becoming too small, Hitler’s ambitions to make it a large airport in the 1930s. Subsequently, it served as a central focus for Berlin, especially with the dividing of the capital after World War II and, particularly with the famous Big Lift of 1948.
Templehof was closed in 2008.
This is a vast space, the arrival and departure areas, the large number of hangers. There is also open land on the outskirts of the airport.
What happened in 2015 was the decision to make the space available for incoming migrants. The area provided an opportunity for people to stay, receive care, be classified for documentation and status.
The director of this film is Brazilian, with his ancestors coming from Algeria. He has a sympathy for the refugees. He also has a background in architecture which makes him interested in the airport itself and its plant.
He accompanies two refugees over a period of a year, telling their stories, all the time photographing the reality of life in the iarport, the dormitories, the rooms, the services, shops, eating areas…
One of the refugees is a young Syrian who turned 18 during his time at the airport, finally getting permission to stay for three years and so to move outside Templehof and to begin some studies. The other refugee is a doctor from Iraq, prevented from officially working as a doctor but giving his time and energies and skills to those who are ill in Templehof.
While the film gives an overview of the airport and this important use for refugees, it is personalised with interviews conducted with a number of the people there but, especially, with the two central subjects of the film.
1. A successful documentary? Brazilian director, student of architecture? Berlin history? Middle Eastern refugees in the 21st-century? Personalised?
2. The history of Templehof airport, origins in the 1920s, too small, Hitler’s ambitions? Its use until 2008? Closure? The size, the empty hangers, the open space, the surroundings?
3. The initial tour, the guests, the guide, the explanations of the history, the audience seeing them? Musical score?
4. The vast area, the use of the hangers, the establishment of the centres, shops, services? The park outside?
5. The coming of the refugees, Germany welcoming so many? The background of Turkish immigrants? The influx in 2015 and the following years?
6. Refugees from Syria, the civil war in Syria, the young man explaining his village, his life, the sufferings? Comparisons with refugees from Iraq?
7. Shops, the groups, the interviews, the services, meals, families, youngsters?
8. The young man from Syria, his story, phoning his mother, documentation, his being accepted for 3 ½ years?
9. The doctor from Iraq, his qualifications not accepted, his helping with medical needs at Templehof?
10. The prospects for the future use of the airport locations? The recreational use for all Germans outside?
