Introduction by Biene Pilavci.

Gölge (“shadow”) is not only the name of this film’s female protagonist, but also serves as a description of her status, standing always in the shadows of the cramped apartment she shares with her parents and sister. Starved of sun, with heavy furniture and dark walls, that apartment no longer serves as a protective home instead becoming prison the family members, who find themselves trapped no matter how hard they push against their oppressive surroundings. Moments of lightness are found in the rare evenings when mother and daughter are able to convince the strict patriarch to let Gölge outside, but even on the streets of Kreuzberg she is never at peace. Hassled by curious neighbors, who are also part of the so-called first generation of Turkish guest workers, and exoticised at school during her first shy encounters with young men, Gölge feels accepted nowhere. Daydreams of studying acting seem, briefly, to offer a form of escape - until, inevitably, Gölge begins to sense constraints there too. (BP)