German reactions?

Six-year-old Cenk Yilmaz is having an identity crisis. Teased at school about being neither fully German nor Turkish, Cenk wants answers. He poses the question to his extended family, which spans three generations, “Are we Germans or Turks?” The film launches into a familial odyssey, exploring the lives of Cenk’s grandparents, father, and contemporary relatives as they all journey to Anatolia to rediscover their heritage. His Turkish grandfather was welcomed into Germany (Almanya) in his youth as the millionth-and-first guest worker; now he is anxious to show his homeland to his German relatives. Almanya is the debut film from Nesrin and Yasemin Samdereli, sister filmmakers responsible for the screenplay and directing. While the film is about integration—often a controversial and emotional Almanya embraces it, highlighting the positive and humorous aspects. Politics and religion exist on the periphery, allowing this film to be a simple story about an average family gaining acceptance in a new land.