The Land Within (La terre intérieure)

Sir? It's your turn.

The State of Geneva is receiving you here

in order to assess your right and will to Swiss citizenship.

You are currently stateless

and your current status allows you to remain within Swiss borders.

Any questions?

Sir, are you listening?

Yes, sorry.

I came directly after my night shift.

Sir,.

I'd like to hear your personal reasons

why you came to Switzerland in the first place.

I was 15,

it was wartime.

They put me on a humanitarian flight.

But isn't your home country at peace now?

Many of your compatriots have already returned there.

They didn't return...

freely.

And going back means leaving Switzerland for good.

They can never return here.

But you could go back to your country, right?

I thought you people have big families.

Most of my family is dead. Most men, at least.

And your parents?

I never had parents.

I was adopted as an orphan

and grew up with a foster family.

You asked for an accelerated procedure,

claiming an emergency in your home country.

But... since your entire family is dead, where will you go?

I still have a cousin over there.

She's alive. She survived.

Remo.

It's Una.

My voice has changed in ten years.

He's about to die.

They say that wolves are coming to the village.

Something is happening.

They're bringing back the corpses from the past.

You have to come back.

But don't expect things to be like you left them.

Dad.

I'll go see him.

Ten years have passed, he can wait a little longer.

Orestina.

Dad.

He's here.

What happened to Skender?

The doctor said he had a stroke.

Did you take him to the hospital?

We hoped he'd recover by himself.

But it's too late now.

Roads are closed because the wolves have come.

Have you gone crazy?

I asked you to come because a man needs to be here if he dies.

Nothing else.

I was right to call him over. Right, Dad?

The day he saw the first scientists...

he knew something would happen.

So his body let go.

He doesn't want anyone to touch his soil, his land.

Even though the village is already a ghost town.

Why, when we were talking on the phone...

didn't you tell me about the mass grave?

You don't seem too shocked to learn about it.

Have you seen the mass grave?

Do you dare to go? Do you have the balls?

I'm sorry, our translators haven't showed up. English is fine?

Yes.

I'm the commissioner in charge of your family.

I mean, the people we are supposed to find here.

Did you bring your list?

Every family needs to bring a list of their relatives.

Please come and see me in my office, as soon as you can. Ok?

You're probably used to something else.

Why didn't you put any sugar in my tea?

The way I see it, you've had enough sugar in life.

Anyway, I wanted to ask...

Do you still use the well?

Are you scared?

Orestina.

What's wrong with her?

She still doesn't talk?

It feels strange to have him here.

I never thought he would come back,

after what he did to us.

I don't know how to be around him.

He doesn't belong here anymore.

It shows.

I know, I know.

Twenty-four years old, not married...

About to lose my father.

And now the adopted boy of the family shows up.

What can I do? I'm not like the others.

Are you lost?

How are you, my man? We all thought you'd vanished.

Well, I came back.

Welcome back, then. We almost built you a memorial.

Do you remember this place where we grew up?

Switzerland, huh?

Yes.

- I still live there, but... - I know why you came back.

Did you see that circus they brought to town?

How's your family?

There's no one left in my family.

Do you remember Flamur?

Come on, let's go.

What were you doing here?

Why do you care?

Calm down, you never know what these wolves can do.

We're going home now.

We'll walk you home.

No need. Our house is close by.

We know where you live.

Will you join us to kill some wolves?

Yeah. When?

Whenever you want.

When you get bored with the women, we'll be here.

Come on.

These guys are no good.

They don't do anything except clean their rifles and wait for the next war.

These guys were my best friends.

Una.

What happened these last ten years?

The war is over.

You didn't fight. Forget about it.

I suffered just the same.

You wouldn't believe how much I've suffered.

Then don't tell me.

Leave the past behind.

I can also go and leave you all alone.

You won't go.

Otherwise you wouldn't have come back.

We'll be without electricity all night.

It's getting worse every day.

Something really special will happen soon.

What are you saying?

The conjunction of three celestial bodies.

When they're aligned, overlapping...

it's really special.

I name the stars, you know?

Like what?

Girl names?

Names of people that did me wrong.

Let's make the list for the scientists.

Look at that.

A treasure from the depths of the earth.

Are you sure you want to see the photos?

Skender never let you see them.

Come on, Una. He won't stop us now.

Wow, you look so dangerous.

I did see this woman when I arrived.

She's Flamur's mother.

You don't remember her?

She was always quite strange.

Sofie, the strangest woman in town.

How could you forget her?

Here's everybody.

Skender, me, Orestina, Besim, and their two kids.

Just before the big attack.

And of course, I had to take the picture.

Just names on a list.

Leave it! You might tear it.

Calm down, I just wanted to get a better look.

Who's that girl?

No idea. Just a girl.

Skender was a charmer.

Girls were probably more scared of him than in love with him.

Wait, I wanted to look some more.

Why?

Almost everybody's dead anyway.

At least you have your parents' photos.

Me, I find meaning in whatever's there.

You dig up the remains and you try to put them back together.

It's a puzzle game.

That's one way to put it.

We see our work as some kind of psychological healing.

But it's complicated you know... the corpses...

are not always in one place.

The perpetrators tried everything to hide their crimes.

The land has its secrets.

Easier to talk to dead people than living ones...

What happend here?

As I was saying...

This list here is supposed to guide us in our search.

Miss Hoxha?

Please, we are in the middle of something here.

We know her, it's fine.

I'm tired.

I'm tired of waiting for this job to be done.

I'm fucking tired.

The officer says he needs to finish something

and then he'll be with you.

Una...

The toughest girl in town.

I'm drunk.

Everybody knows this, you know... everything.

One ghost, two ghosts, three ghosts,

four ghosts, five ghosts, six ghosts...