Neighbours (2021)

It's a coming-of-age story that follows a year in the life of Sero, a six-year-old Kurdish boy living with his family in a village on the border between Syria and Turkey. He resides in a household with his grandparents, parents, younger sister, and his daring uncle Aram, a young man smitten with Hanna, their neighbor and the daughter of the only Jewish family in town. Through the eyes of the child, we witness the harm caused by the toxic nationalism of Hafez al-Assad, which even infiltrates his first year of school. The film highlights the persecution of Kurds and the prohibition of their native language. It serves as a reminder of how ugly and unjust the world can be, while also portraying the beauty of neighborly friendship and kindness.