At some point I noticed that my brother and I avoid eye contact when we tell someone about our flight (escape). Also, we tell the story differently and each of us leaves out other passages. That's why it was important for me to find a language in my film that the brothers could speak to each other: The Jungle Book. The escape becomes a jungle for the protagonists, where invisible dangers lurk everywhere. It's about Mowgli and Bagheera, who face the dangerous jungle together. But then at some point this world collapses and Bagheera no longer exists. It is also important to me not to reduce these people to their flight. The refugees have a past that has nothing to do with war. They are first and foremost human beings.

Ba6be054ec headshot Muschirf Shekh Zeyn was born in 1988 in a Kurdish family and grew up in Kamishli (Syria). He has been interested in literature, painting and woodwork since he was a child. He began writing short stories at a very early age and discovered a fascination with cinema. He studied architecture (Bachelor) in Syria and specialized in urban sociology. He graduated in the middle of the Syrian war and had to flee Syria after being arrested and because of his compulsory military service. He experienced flight in various countries and had to work many jobs to keep his head above water. After two years of flight, he arrived in Bremen (Germany) and started making films himself. He is studying film directing at the University of Television and Film Munich since 2019 and is a scholarship holder of the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation. His short film "Killing Bagheera" has so far screened at eight Oscar-qualifying festivals such as Tampere, Palm Springs and Odense.