Wasted Dreams (WT)

"Wasted Dreams" is a movie about a dream for a better future. Koyo and Kofi repair an old computer and find a video of a German family celebrating Christmas. They get an insight into our society, and the dream of once going to Germany is born.

Koyo is the "lucky" one who makes it to Europe. Soon he is faced with new problems. It is very hard to become prosperous in the western world, especially if you are a foreigner who has not been educated and conditioned for all his life. At the same time his family back home has high expectations and they demand money. They believe that he is a rich man now. He wants to keep this picture up because otherwise he would lose face.

That is the tragedy of many refugees. They came to a new country. They realized that they cannot make it there but they also cannot go home because everybody would call them a loser. The longer they stay away from home the more they become separated. In the end their home is not their home anymore and they are lost and alone. This topic is all over the media but still people donʻt really know much about it. The public discussion is limited. Mostly refugees are presented as numbers and statistics like „18 refugees found by fishermen".

"Wasted Dreams" will draw a complex emotional picture of one individual refugee. We will follow him throughout his journey showing us his feelings and his perception. At the same time we will realize how much Europe is interconnected with Africa. How close our lives actually are to Africa. And thats how it starts. Our waste provokes a dream.

"Wasted Dreams" is the feature film debut of York-Fabian Raabe. With "Between Heaven and Earth", a short about African refugees, he won numerous awards, such as the L.A. shorts' "Best Foreign Film Award", the "Max Ophüls Preis" for best film, the Kodak Short Film Award, the ARTE Award etc. and was screened at the most renowned festivals, such as Berlinale, Cannes, Clermont Ferrand, Hof etc.