Die Möllner Briefe

In November 1992, a racially motivated arson attack in the German town of Mölln destroyed the lives of several people. Seven-year-old İbrahim survived the attack, but lost his sister, his cousin and his grandmother. 

After the attack, the town received hundreds of letters of solidarity, which were ignored for almost three decades and never shared with the bereaved. Now that the letters have been rediscovered in the archives, we see İbrahim's encounters with three letter writers. Together with his brothers and sisters, İbrahim searches for a way to deal with their trauma. He actively fights against racism and advocates for a culture of remembrance that focuses on the perspective of the victims, while his brother Namik is still in the early stages of processing his trauma. Through the Möllner letters, they discover the great solidarity that existed with the victims of arson, but which they had never been aware of for thirty years.

Die Möllner Briefe is a poignant documentary that asks tough questions about remembrance and the role victims play or are given in it. It shows a perspective in which their voices and experiences are taken seriously and in which they receive the recognition they deserve. It is the third film by director Martina Priessner, who also explored the lives of Germans of Turkish origin in her earlier work. A topical and urgent theme at a time when Germany is once again reflecting on how it commemorates history and past deeds.