Fata Morgana

The director, Zaradasht Ahmed (1968), turns into a character in the film. His background and, not least, his inquisitiveness and fascination guide us as we enter this world of his. He himself has made the journey into Europe, albeit for separate and possibly more serious reasons than our other characters, but he has no trouble comprehending their motive power. Zaradasht fled from the First Gulf War; he had just graduated from the Kirkuk Institute of Technology in Northern Iraq. He wandered through the minefields in the Kurdish part of Iraq, and eventually reached Syria and later Lebanon. After five years on the run, he arrived in Norway in 1995 as a quota refugee. He still lives here, he has passed 40, and feels he has to move on. Life in Norway is safe and comfortable, but something is lacking. Fata Morgana lies to the south, beyond Gibraltar. Here he meets someone who reminds him of the dream he had as a young man.