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11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2019 CULTURE ENVIRONMENT also makes the good strategic decision of making something of a classic hero's journey out of Harald's situation. He is a corpulent everyman whose authority hangs by a thread, but who now has the chance to do something truly extraordinary. The fact that his superiors are revealed to be clueless – and, latterly, drunk – only strengthens his resolve to bust out of his comfort zone. BERLIN WALL BERLINALE BERLIN BEAR WITH ME UNBEARABLE ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ It's very common and it grows mostly everywhere, flow- ering profusely. It's starting to show up among the green foliage that appears after a stint of rain, but it's in bloom practically all year. Its ubiquity, however, doesn't render the sweet alison any less sweet. Indeed its explosion of flow- ers, arranged in spherical clusters of florets – like miniature ortensias – are among its main attractions. The plant is very short and delicate but those scores of white pompoms that give the plant its Maltese name (buttu- niera) will still catch your attention. And if their appearance doesn't, their scent will: a stand of alison will mildly sweeten the air around it. Incidentally the plant wasn't named af- ter any particularly sweet-natured human female: the word alison is simply a corruption of alyssum, which is another name for this plant. Text: Victor Falzon - Photo: Desiree Falzon 686. SWEET ALISON Another brick in the wall: Charly Hübner plays embattled border-guardian Harald Schäfer during the fateful final hours of the Berlin Wall Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 585: Find out more on our website www.foemalta.org/goodfood The verdict Confronting an open challenge reflected in the film's very last line, Bornholmer Straße dares to find the humour in a Great Historical Moment, both deflating it of excess grandi- osity to reveal the human and bureaucratic foibles and – it must be said – doing some necessary work to dismantle the idea that humour is not a particularly German forte. First aired in 2014, it now comes to us with a bitter tang, however, as the essential absurdity of borders has once again cropped up in the national discourse with depressing inevitability. Bornholmer Straße will be screened on November 22 at 6.30pm at the German Maltese-Circle, Messina Palace, Val- letta on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall and as part of the 10th German Film Festival in Malta, organised in collaboration with the Goethe Insti- tute. Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg, the author of the book that the film is based on, will be present for a Q&A session after the screening. Entrance is free but booking is required on: www.germanmaltesecircle.org/bornholmer-strasse-booking/ ★ ★ ★ BORNHOLMER STRASSE (12A)