The Building Comes to Life - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

We see people living in what appears to be an unassuming apartment building. Gradually we see that one family is Macedonian, another Albanian, another Roma, etc. When a student moves out of the building, she asks some kids: Beni (Albanian)...See moreWe see people living in what appears to be an unassuming apartment building. Gradually we see that one family is Macedonian, another Albanian, another Roma, etc. When a student moves out of the building, she asks some kids: Beni (Albanian), Dime and Mali (Macedonian), Atije (Roma) and Jeylan (Turkish) to help her carry her things to the car. These kids don't know each other, even though most of them live in the same building. The student has no more room in the car, so she leaves her TV set for the kids to share. After some debate, the kids decide that the appropriate place for the TV is a room in the basement. There they continue to argue over the TV, and before they can even plug it into the wall the TV turns on. On the screen is Karmen, who it turns out is the apartment in which the kids live. She introduces the kids to each other, addressing each in his/her own language. All the children are totally amazed, but remain convinced that there's some logical technical explanation. They agree to return later to look for the real meaning of what's happened. Only one of the kids, Atije, returns at the appointed time. Because the kids haven't kept their word, Karmen doesn't appear when they all finally assemble in the basement. Dime blames Beni and makes pejorative remarks about how Beni, as an Albanian, has no place in the building. At home Dime is irritable and pouty. Karmen suddenly "threshes" (to send someone through Karmen's magic tunnel) Dime to Beni's apartment, where Dime invisibly witnesses that Beni is just a regular kid who is now as unhappy as he is. After he's "threshed" back, Dime realizes he needs to apologize to Beni for insulting him earlier. Despite this reconciliation, the kids still have a problem: The adults have decided to make the basement room their common laundry. Dime offers a plan to outsmart the parents. And together the kids succeed in keeping the basement as their shared room where they can visit Karmen. They also realize that they now form a group with a shared secret. Written by Search for Common Ground See less