One Day in Europe

One day in Europe

Four cities, four cases of theft, four instalments of a Champions′ League game and football fever everywhere…
The interwoven episodes of this film kick off in Moscow, where Galatasaray Istanbul and Deportivo La Coruña meet for the Champions′ League final.

Kate, a young English art dealer, is mugged after a taxi ride but finds help in the shape of a vibrant pensioner named Elena. The two women make their way to the police station but, once there, they have difficulty reporting the theft because the officers have their hands full trying to keep visiting football hooligans under control. Their task is not made any easier by the fact that nobody speaks English. At this point, Deportivo is leading one-nil.
Meanwhile, in a notorious part of Istanbul, a German student named Rokko is trying to pretend he’s been mugged in order to obtain a police report and so claim the insurance money. But he didn’t reckon on the likes of a committed taxi driver named Celal – or on his complete ignorance of the way the Turkish police force operates. Back in Moscow, the Turkish team scores an equalising goal and all Istanbul goes wild.

At the same time, at the famous Spanish place of pilgrimage Santiago de Compostela, Hungarian history teacher Gabor is relieved of his digital camera. Village policeman Barreira would be only too happy to help this Catholic pilgrim – after his siesta. One misunderstanding follows hot on the heels of the first. The population here are anything but jubilant when the Turkish team score the equaliser in Moscow.
Meanwhile, in Berlin, a couple of street performers decide to pretend they’ve been mugged in order to improve their flagging finances. Their search for a suitable place to perform takes them to a part of Kreuzberg with a high percentage of Anatolian residents. Here, football fever is understandably riding high. And the game is about to be decided by penalty kicks…

Source: 55. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)