Description:

Timed with the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, Northwestern doctoral candidates Evelyn Kreutzer and Esra Cimencioglu have curated a series of stylistically diverse films that promise to shed new light on this crucial moment in European history. Migrating Berlin reveals fascinating “micro-histories” that unsettle established East/West narratives about this period of cultural and architectural transformation. Documentaries like Duvarlar-Mauern-Walls (2000) and Wir Bleiben Hier (1990) chronicle the alienation and socio-economic struggle among Germany’s migrant populations during reunification, while Berlin, Babylon (2001) considers how the built environment of the city itself reflects these sweeping changes. With commentary by Northwestern faculty, visiting scholars and filmmakers, these films demonstrate the urgency of returning to these neglected histories three decades on.

Promotional support provided by the Goethe Institut

Duvarlar-Mauern-Walls
(Can Candan, 2000, USA/Turkey, digital, 83 min.)
In Turkish, German and English with English subtitles
In 1991, two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and during the 30th anniversary of the guest worker treaty between Turkey and Germany, Turkish filmmaker Can Candan interviewed members of Berlin’s Turkish community, the largest minority living in post-wall Berlin, about their experiences of the German reunification. This trilingual documentary explores larger issues in this new Germany such as migration, guest-workers, cultural identity, belonging and xenophobia. In this film, Turkish immigrants of all ages talk about their past, present, and possible future in a united Germany and how increasing hostilities and right-wing violence affect their sense of belonging and their label of being “foreign.”
In Person: Can Candan
With support from the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program