Mission Ulja Funk

“I have a deal for you: You drive me to an appointment and I do your homework for two weeks.” — “No deals with bright sparks.” A children’s service at a chapel in the German heartland. Though even the weirdest presentations are met with applause, Ulja’s astronomy lecture gets cut off. But the 12-year-old future scientist has just discovered her first asteroid! Unwilling to reconcile divine providence and science, Ulja’s Russia German grandmother unceremoniously disposes of her granddaughter’s technical equipment. An angry Ulja sets out with schoolmate Henk in the family’s hearse for Belarus, where her asteroid is supposed to impact soon. A quirky chase begins, with colourful stops along the way which highlight long-smouldering conflicts and make them appear in a new light. On their winding journey, moralisers are exposed as hypocrites and divided families, friends, lovers and nations are reunited. (Berlinale)