SWETAT E GOLJAM I SPASENIJE DEBNE OTWSJAKADE

Bulgaria, 1980. Alex enjoys a happy childhood in communist Bulgaria. Despite the scarcity of certain foodstuffs, his grandmother always manages to get hold of enough sugar for her cakes and biscuits. His mother indulges her love of reading and crochet pictures. And his grandfather, alias Bai Dan, is the uncrowned king of backgammon. He also has an unfortunate habit of telling political jokes during his games in the local pub. Plain-speaking and loud with it, he gets on the wrong side of the local Party commissioner, meaning Alex and his family have pack up and leave the country overnight.

Germany, 2006. For the first time since their flight, Alex and his parents plan to visit Bulgaria. A car accident puts paid to this venture; only the son survives, and his memory of the past has been entirely wiped out. When his grandparents in Bulgaria hear about the accident, Bai Dan sets out to fetch his grandson. But the young man no longer recognises him and wants nothing to do with the cheerful old Bulgarian. Bai Dan is having none of it. He decides to take Alex back to Bulgaria and administer therapy of his own kind.