Program

Firidei 4

Jungbrunnen-Spezial

Storyline

In a small apartment, a couple argues while packing away the last objects of their relationship. What begins as a fight over pans and polaroids slowly reveals deeper wounds about love, resentment, and power. As their voices fade, ChatGPT enters the story as an unexpected character, delivering the film’s final monologue.

About the film/director

Tourialay Akbari is a Romanian-Afghan actor and emerging filmmaker. He has performed in short films such as Morski Briz, which had its world premiere in competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival, and recently played a key supporting role in the feature film April X, which had its world premiere at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. An alumnus of Inlight School of Acting and Talents Sarajevo, Firidei 4 marks his writing and directorial debut, a minimalist chamber drama about the intersections of love, resentment, and technology.

Director’s statement

“Firidei 4” began from a simple but universal situation: a couple breaking up while packing up their old apartment. The conflict is rooted in financial power dynamics, unspoken resentments, undervalued domestic labor and shaped by a reversal of roles, where she holds the financial power and he has carried the domestic work. The setting, a shared space being dismantled mirrors their relationship unraveling, each object a trigger for deeper wounds. The stark, unpolished visual style was a deliberate choice to reflect the emotional distance of a breakup.
What makes this breakup different is the presence of ChatGPT. At one point, the man turns to the AI for advice, asking who should keep a polaroid. This choice was not necessarily ironic or satirical, but an honest reflection of how technology is becoming embedded in our intimate lives. The question I wanted to raise is whether chatbots are becoming entities that we trust with our most personal matters, to the point where their answers start to feel valid, even in spaces once reserved for human judgment and emotion.
By giving the final monologue to ChatGPT, I wanted to confront the audience with a subtle but unsettling truth: we are beginning to outsource not just tasks, but also judgment, intimacy, and memory. “Firidei 4” is ultimately about the fragility of relationships, but also about this cultural moment where a machine’s voice can become part of our most private conflicts.