A film by Germinal Roaux With Kidist Siyum Beza (Fortuna) Bruno Ganz (Brother Jean) Patrick d’Assumçao (Mr. Blanchet) Assefa Zerihun Gudeta (Kabir) Yoann Blanc (Brother Luc) ‘Please hear my prayer. You know that I need your help. You know that I am alone. In a country I don’t know. In a language I don’t speak. In a life I don’t understand.’ In a monastery at the heart of the snow-covered massif of the Swiss Simplon pass, 14-years-old Fortuna folds her hands in prayer, kneeling before a statue of the blessed mother. A photograph of her parents, not seen since the traumatic crossing of the Mediterranean, keeps their memory alive. Like many other refugees, the Ethiopian girl has found shelter with Catholic friars – for the interim, until her residency status is resolved. Lonely and filled with longing to be comforted, Fortuna bears a secret, one which she even keeps from the abbot. With a grand palette of images, from the violently churning sea to the sublimely menacing Alpine peaks, Germinal Roaux paints the portrait of a soul left stranded and attempts to fathom the limits of love. Berlinale 2018
