Journey of Hope (1990)

The story of a poor Turkish family who try to emigrate illegally to Switzerland.

Director:

Xavier Koller

Writers:

Xavier Koller, Feride Çiçekoglu

Stars:

Necmettin Çobanoglu, Nur Sürer, Emin Sivas

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Necmettin Çobanoglu	...	Haydar Sener
Nur Sürer	...	Meryem
Emin Sivas	...	Mehmet Ali
Erdinç Akbas	...	Adama
Yaman Okay	...	Türkmen
Yasar Güner	...	Haci Baba (as Yasar Gner)
Hseyin Mete	...	Selçuk
Yaman Tarcan	...	Ilyas
Selahattin Firat	...	Grandfather
Meryem Çaki	...	Grandmother
Mustafa	...	Children
Mehmet	...	Children
Fatma	...	Children
Sükran	...	Children
Zeynep	...	Children

Storyline

In a village in eastern Turkey, tales of the economic success of Turks in Switzerland inspire Haydar to convince his wife Meryem that they must go. He sells their livestock and small plot of land in exchange for passage for two. He wants to leave their seven children in the care of the eldest and his parents; his father advises him to take one son to be educated in Europe, as economic insurance. The three set off for Istanbul, Milan, and Switzerland, stowing away on a ship. At Lake Como, they pay the rest of their money to unprincipled men who abandon them at an Alpine pass before a blizzard. Father and son are separated from Meryem. Will anyone reach the land of promise?

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Plot Keywords:

switzerland | lake como | smuggling | immigrant | illegal immigrant | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Switzerland Turkey UK France

Language:

Turkish Swiss German Italian

Release Date:

26 April 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Journey of Hope

Filming Locations:

Kahramanmaras, Turkey

Box Office

Gross USA:

$261,718

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antea Cinematografica, Catpics, Channel Four Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Switzerland's official submission to the 1991's Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film category.

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Quotes

[To the Swiss truck driver]
Haydar Sener: I would have liked to become your friend.

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Connections

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007)

User Reviews

Great movie!

"Die Reise der Hofnung" is one of the best movies ever made in switzerland.Maybe only the director comes from switzerland,but I know him personally,and he told me that the whole movie was shot in switzerland.The story is about a turkish family,that leaves their country to come to switzerland.But they have to solve a lot of problems and some other stuff.(Some times the movie is a bit of irrational,for example why didn't they ask for help when they finally arrived in switzerland?)Xavier Koller,the director show us how difficult life is in the balcan. Great movie! 9/10