YilmazArslan was born in Turkey in 1968 and at the age of seven was moved toGermany to be treated for polio. He spent most of his youth at arehabilitation center where he founded a theater group comprised mainlyof disabled teenagers. Passages is scripted and enacted by residents ofthe center, and as such is part documentary, part fiction, and quiteextraordinary in its impact. It is a totally unsentimental work whichpresents a dramatic portrayal of life for individuals with disabilitiesbut with all the problems of people without disabilities. For youngpeople coming to terms with their maturity and sexuality, a"progressive" state-of-the art institution promotingindependent living does not address matters of emotional safety, love,or privacy any better than the outside environment. Rather, it is a kindof prison. The title refers to the endless corridors which become ametaphor for loneliness, isolation, and anxiety. "This workdescribes an existential distress made bearable only by the vision of aborn filmmaker." (New Directors/ New Films)