The most memorable migrant narrative to emerge at the Berlinale, though, is Philip Scheffner’s and Colorado Velcu’s And-Ek Ghes… (One Fine Day…). Premiering in the Forum, the messy, affecting, and in places inspired film follows Velcu’s extended family as they move from Romania to settle in Western Europe. While it initially plays like a home-movie diary, more profound concerns begin to emerge. Colorado, the family’s de facto patriarch, becomes obsessed with creating a narrative of his experience, first through diaries, then a song, and finally through the film itself. As And-Ek Ghes… progresses, the filmmakers reveal that much of the material has been staged in one way or another. It’s as if these new arrivals are performing not just for the camera, but for a culture they’re trying to fit into. It’s a smart, funny commentary on immigration and integration, and one that uses its mishmash of home movies, re-enactments and pop-music fantasia to suggest that no one migrant narrative defines the experience of global displacement and statelessness.
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