They Call Me Onion

Hopeful, positive and sociable - that‘s Jasmin Ramovic without a doubt. So in 2018, while filming in his neighborhood, he strikes up a conversation with directors Riccardo and Giansalvo, invites them to join him in the trailer park, and shows them around. In the process, Jasmin tells them about an eviction notice that would force him and his 14 siblings, as well as his parents and relatives, onto the street.

What gives him hope at this time is the prospect of social housing. His parents already made the application when the city announced the eviction of the trailer park in Ex-Fiera. Life in the camp, however, does not seem to have changed as a result of this uncertainty. As Jasmin leads the camera crew through the camp, everyone goes about their usual business. The children play and have fun using an action cam to show their home from their perspective. In the evening, everyone gathers around a campfire, as they often do. They talk, smoke and warm up.

Then, when the day of eviction arrives, no one shows up to enforce it. The relief is great. And even before they would actually lose their home of the last eight years, Jasmin and his parents even receive the promise for the apartment.

Everything seems to be taking a positive turn and the long-awaited wish of a harmonious life in the circle of his closest family could finally come true for Jasmin. But things are to turn out quite differently and the move marks the beginning of an emotional roller coaster for him.

Unexpectedly, his grandparents die within a few months of each other. For Jasmin, it means the loss of the protectors he sees in them. This, and the closeness in lockdown that the pandemic brings, increasingly leads to conflict between him and his father. Jasmine ends up on the streets.

During this difficult time, the directors decide to help Jasmin out of a jam when, for example, he faces problems applying for social benefits due to his illiteracy. To do this, they consciously leave the professional distance to their protagonist. As they increasingly become part of the action, the viewer can witness how the camera uncovers revealing contradictions and secrets.

What is the real state of Jasmin‘s father‘s health? Is the illness that suddenly brings them back together and erases seemingly irreconcilable frictions more metaphor than reality? What‘s the story behind the friend‘s relocation who took him in? What are the real consequences for him? And what role does the elusive cousin Tony play for him?

Fact and fiction begin to collide and reveal a façade. In the process, the hidden story of a man who thought he was looking for a home but was really searching for himself comes to light.