A village in Anatolia, T\u00fcrkiye. The young Shirin is to be married against her will. She flees to Cologne. She tries to make a life for herself in Germany as one of the \u00bbguest workers\u00ab recruited by the government, juggling factory work, life in a hostel and dance bars for \u00bbguest workers\u00ab. Then she meets a man she trusts \u2013 unaware of what she is getting herself into.<\/p>\n
The film is considered the first to be told from the perspective of a female \u00bbguest worker\u00ab. Filmmaker Helma Sanders-Brahms and her protagonist even exchange direct dialogue at one point in the film, seemingly to allow the character a chance to express herself. But Shirin replies in broken German, raising the question: who is actually in control here?<\/p>\n
Even the main character\u2019s name suggests that the dialogue is not taking place on equal terms: the spelling Shirin<\/em> is incorrect, it should be \u015eirin<\/em>. This discrepancy already betrays a tension that runs through the film: a form of objectification, manifesting as a sense of being controlled by others.<\/p>\n At the time, the film triggered a wave of outrage among Turkish \u00bbguest workers\u00ab against the German broadcaster WDR. The singer-songwriter Metin T\u00fcrk\u00f6z literally spits on \u015eirin \u2013 or rather, the lead actress Ayten Erten \u2013 in one of his songs. The film is even debated in the Turkish parliament. Ayten Erten\u2019s film career ended almost as soon as it had begun.<\/p>\n In cooperation with K\u00f6ln im Film<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":47024,"template":"","movie_year":[898],"movie_genre":[629],"movie_cat":[877],"festival":[886],"class_list":["post-46669","movie","type-movie","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","movie_year-898","movie_genre-spielfilm-2","movie_cat-ifff-revisited-en-2026","festival-886"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n