Am Rand der Städte

On the edge of the city of Mersin, in the south of Turkey, one apartment complex after another is popping up. They are mostly situated around a park and a swimming pool, which all the balconies look out on. No matter how standardised the modern residential areas are, protected by permanent surveillance and with manicured lawns, the residents are less homogeneous. What they have in common is that almost without exception they are "German" - Turks who made money by toiling in Germany for years and eventually returned to Turkey. Their personal stories involve very diverse dramas. portrays a few generations of these torn families who bitterly regret their choices, who no longer felt at home in Germany and are now trying to make a new life for themselves in Turkey. The documentary is sober and based on interviews with candid Turks who, once back in Turkey, need a visa to visit their relatives in Germany. Their stories are illustrated by travelling shots of the modern boulevards, which offer little hominess.