Melisa Acar

The story of her grandmother’s old suitcase moves Hazal to understand her kurdish families past and carry on the legacy.

In a mountainous region of Bakur, elderly Keke is seriously ill. Her son Ali has come from Germany to support her, bringing his daughter Hazal. Hazal knows nothing of this world and has never been interested in her family’s Alevi-Kurdish roots. But when she learns of her grandmother’s last wish, that she wants to be buried with her old suitcase, her curiosity is awakened. The story of the suitcase reveals to Hazal the tragedy of her family, which is marked by indiscriminate violence and state abuse of power, by oppression and displacement, but also by a mother’s deep love for her child and by the strength of a woman that surpasses her suffering.