18-year-old Özer lives in Antakya and remembers that he has already worked as an electrician. Today, he would be 39 and would have a family…if a wall had not caved in on him.

Cansu is 11 years old. She is not allowed to see her children from her life as Lulu, because her mother-in-law from that past life forbids her to have any contact with them. She can’t get that into her head.

Reincarnation is the subject of “Two Half Lives” by German-Turkish director Servet Ahmet Golbol. The author and director is also from Antakya. With great sensitivity, he portrays four children and adolescents who say that they have lived before. As a son of Turkish migrant workers who moved to Germany in the 1970s, Golbol also poses questions about his own history. He, too, has to combine two different lives,
two cultures.

Seeking advice, he turns to the town’s religious leaders. He talks with the patriarch of the Orthodox Church, the imam of the Habib Neccar Mosque, the Jewish community council, and one of the most respected Alevi sheikhs. Thus the town of Antakya itself plays a supporting role as a peaceful, magical place, which through its tolerance and diverse religions seems closely connected to the destinies of the four children.

The touching melodies of Quadro Nuevo help to alleviate the children’s highly emotional stories.