Limbo

With practically nothing but his bright blue jacket and his grandfather’s oud packed in a massive case, Omar stands somewhat apathetically in his dreary surroundings. Stuck on a remote Scottish island with only a handful of bizarre inhabitants, his escape from Syria has come to a temporary end. Instead, an endless wait has begun. Together with other asylum seekers, he fears the outcome of his situation, roams through the island’s never-ending wasteland, attends strange integration courses at the home where he is staying and can- not bring himself to play his oud. Separated from his brother, who went to war in Syria, and from his parents, who stayed in Turkey, Omar hopes both for an end to his burden and for a life to which music will return. With Nordic melancholy, poignant tragedy and dry humour, director Ben Sharrock highlights the hope in being lost and, after his first work PIKADERO, conjures up yet another laconic, visually powerful drama for the big screen.