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Who are we and where do we come from? To start with, there is the universe with the round ball of the earth within it, then there is America and finally there is the family to which somebody belongs. The family name links a whole chain of generations and can be traced to a country in Europe: Ireland. In a number of short interviews spread throughout the video, various people tell what their most important memory of youth is. The connecting factor is formed by the memories of a woman who we do not get to see. Her voice leads us into a child's world full of curiosity. She has thousands of questions, about the stars, extra terrestrial beings, death, the origins of her Irish family; ultimately they all boil down to that one, all important question of identity. This video is a marvellous rendition of the candour and total trust of the child who thinks her grandfather has all the answers, even though he often says "I don't know". The anecdotes reveal the sense of myth and magic that belongs to children, the acceptance that things are as they are and at the same time, the wondering at every new discovery. The conclusion that ultimately follows the all embracing why question is at first completely disenchanting: everything from universe to an individual course of life is determined by a fairly random chaos. But the adult woman does not leave it at that, she knows how to hold on to something of her previous wonder as she comes to the final conclusion: "There is beauty in this chaos in discord. How silly of me not to realize. The night always survived on beauty."
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Lies Holtrop
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With: Karl Heitmuller, Dave Himes, Julie Woolnough, E. Michael Epps
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