AFRO.DEUTSCHLAND

Credits

Name: AFRO.DEUTSCHLAND

Country: Deutschland

Year of publication: 2016

Format: digital

Color: color

Language : OF deutsch

Duration: 56 Minuten

Direction: Pareigis, Jana

Actor: Michael, Theodor Wonja; Donkor, Esther; Asamoah, Gerald; Deluxe, Sami

Guest: Pareigis, Jana; Michael, Theodor Wonja; Donkor, Esther

Abstract

What is it like to have dark skin and live in Germany and what has to change for black people to be able to live here undisturbed and on equal terms? In her documentary
AFRO.DEUTSCHLAND, Deutsche Welle presenter Jana Pareigis looks for answers to these questions and sets off on a research trip around the country. Black people have been in Germany for 400 years, and there are now around one million living here. Their stories are rarely told, however. To change this, the filmmaker went to see fellow Afro-Germans, such as rapper Samy Deluxe, blogger Esther Donkor and Nazi regime survivor Theodor Wonja Michael, who is also the patron of this year’s Afrika Film Festival. Their interviews explore issues such as marginalisation, racism, self-acceptance and ideals of beauty. The director Jana Pareigis confesses that she too once saw her skin colour as a flaw: “As a kid, I wanted to be white,” she said. Her film aims to overcome inferiority complexes such as this one and to confront racial prejudice.