Cross cultural comedy

Almanya - Welcome to Germany (Willkommen in Deutschland, German, 2011)

This 2011 German award winning supposedly comedy film (not overtly funny - maybe by Deutschland standards) made by people of Turkish descent there. It is shown here as part of the European film festival.
Since the 70s, Turkish workers started working in Germany. This film is told from the viewpoint of a grand daughter of one such immigrant Huseyni Yilmaz.

Huseyni takes everybody for a trip back to Turkey. In midst of all, everybody has issues to handle. The youngest grandson, Cenk, is finding trouble whether he is German or Turkish. The narrator, Canan, a university student, living with her English boyfriend, had missed her periods!
The story of Huseyni's marriage in Turkey, his migration, then his family's, the culture shock, the language barrier etcetera is told in instalments along the way as the clan prepares and go for the holiday.

For a better life?

When Huseyni returns home for the first time, two of his children could not recognise him. After Veli, the eldest son, gets in trouble with the school after playing truant, Huseyni decides to take the family back to Germany.

The migration of the family cause cultural and language difficulties but they got by. There are many pork related jokes, like the immigration officer insists that to be a German citizen, one has to eat pork! Then there is Muhamad's (2nd son) friend telling him that German are canibals - they gather on Sunday to feed on a man hanging on the cross! And they just could not understand why the dogs in Germany had to be walked around on a leash unlike in Turkey where dogs stray around and that is what they are supposed to be doing!
The jokes here are quite sanitized, nothing as crass as Borat!
The movie does not explore deep into all the problems faced by the characters. It deals with it superficially. Anyway, it is supposed to be a light comedy.
The film ends with the grandson, representing Huseyni, giving a speech in presence of Chancellor Merkel in a gathering honoring the migrant workers in German.
It makes think how our migrant workers must be awed by our development and the loneliness the feel after looking at us with our respective families.

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