Stealing Lives

A story of a young schoolboy who, with his classmates, has pledged to defend his country. In September of 1939 he goes to war on his own in the spirit of cadets during the insurrection of 1831. He is trying to protect his classmate, a 12-year old girl, in search of her mother during the war confusion.

The massacre of the Acqui Division in Cephalonia during World War II.

Five years following the infamous chemical and biological bombing of Halabja, Diyari, a Kurdish/ American good Samaritan, returns to his homeland to build an orphanage in what is left of Halabja. He meets Jiyan, a ten-year old orphan and a survivor of the chemical attack, doomed to live with a burn scar covering most of her right cheek.. A strong bond between the two ensues and later he names his orphanage after her. During the course of his stay in Halabja, Diyari meets a colorful bunch of townsfolk, many of whom remain physically and/or psychologically marked with the effects of the chemical agents. Among them is Jiyan's only living relative, Shérco, a twelve-year old who has also lost his family to the poison gas. While Shérco dreams of marrying her one day, Jiyan dreams of seeing flowers, a picture of which she finds on the back of a magazine. In addition to building the orphanage, Diyari brings a spark of hope and happiness to Shérco's and Jiyan's lives. However, this affair is short lived. As he leaves, the two orphans turn back to their lonely shells with very little light to look forward to - a familiar state of mind echoing throughout Halabja. Diyari departs with a promise to return, but now leaving a tearful Jiyan at the place where he first meet her - on a swing under a lonely tree on a small lonely hill.

The first post-war years. Kolya Letechka lives in the orphanage - a victim of the "Kinderheim" concentration camp, where the Germans conducted their research on children. Terrible memories make themselves felt when Kolka finds himself on trial over traitors.