Director Senka Domanović Serbia / Croatia 2018
87 Min., OV with English subs
Director Emek Bizim İstanbul Bizim initiative Turkey 2016
48 Min., OV with English subs
Followed by a talk with Kaspar Aebi and Senem Aytaç
Berliner Förderprogramm Künstlerische Forschung @ SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA
Film programme and discussions with a focus on Belarus
Curated by Marina Naprushkina and Agnieszka Kilian
Films with absent protagonists, after the GDR, after 1990
Curated by Anna Zett and Philipp Goll
Curated by Sebahattin Şen
Curated by Necati Sönmez
Fields of action in the environmental crisis
Curated by Sarnt Utamachote, Malve Lippmann, Rosalia Namsai Engchuan and Pia Chakraverti-Würthwein & Eirini Fountedaki
Curated by Özge Calafato
Curated by Eirini Fountedaki, Cornelia Lund & Holger Lund (fluctuating images), Philip Rizk and Shohreh Shakoory
Curated by Kaspar Aebi
Curated by Popo Fan
Curated by Sarnt Utamachote and Rosalia Namsai Engchuan
Curated by Popo Fan, Tobias Hering, Malve Lippmann, Branka Pavlovic, Can Sungu, Sarnt Utamachote and Florian Wüst
Director Aylin Kuryel and Fırat Yücel Turkey 2019
57 min, OV with English subs
Followed by a talk with Aylin Kuryel and Fırat Yücel
Director Furqan Faridi, Ashfaque EJ, Shaheen Ahmed and Vishu Sejwal India 2019
43, OV with English subs
Followed by a talk with Shivramkrishna Patil and Susanne Gupta
Contract Labor and Internationalism in the GDR
Curated by Tobias Hering and Sun-ju Choi
Romani Perspectives in Film
Curated by Hamze Bytyçi
Curated by Amal Ramsis
Curated by Malve Lippmann and Can Sungu
Queer Feminist Rebels
Curated by Pembe Hayat KuirFest / Pink Life QueerFest, Esma Akyel and Esra Özban
Director Afraa Batous Syria, Lebanon 2015
82 min., OV with English subs
Followed by a talk with Lisa Jöris and Afraa Batous
Chinese X Queer X Film
Curated by Popo Fan
The Figure of the Migrant
Curated by Ömer Alkın
Curated by Necati Sönmez
Shifting Narratives
Curated by Florian Wüst
Narratives and Memories of Transnational Families
Curated by Malve Lippmann and Can Sungu
By Esra Özban
Syrian Society and Politics before and after 2011
By Amer Katbeh
Perspectives on Mobility in African Film
By Enoka Ayemba
Poverty, Overpopulation, Migration - these are the images which often arise in western perceptions of the African continent. The voices of those who arrive in Europe, or even those of the people who are not emigrating, are rarely part of the discourse. But those who are leaving their home countries to start somewhere entirely new are in fact the minority. The six-part film series Leaving and Staying focusing less on the stories about leaving, but rather on the decision to stay despite the hard life circumstances, as well as on the fight for a better life on-site.
The works of African filmmakers from the 1970s till today are illustrating the lives of young people on the African continent. The decision whether to stay or to leave of course is a relevant one in their lives, but so are other existential questions as well.
Enoka Ayemba is a film curator and film critic focusing on African cinematographies, the Nigerian video industry and anti-colonial movements. He has been a consultant for the Berlinale Forum since 2019.
By Marie Rasper and Hanna Döring
Mobilities between tourism and migration
By Malve Lippmann and Can Sungu
By Florian Wüst
Parent's and Children's Fates in the Context of Labor Migration
By Malve Lippmann and Can Sungu
Social Criticism in German-Turkish Migration Film
By Can Sungu
By Branka Pavlovic
OV with English subs
Followed by a talk with Can Sungu
Director Carmen Losmann Germany 2011
90 min., OV with English subs
Director Mama Keïta France/ Guinea/ Senegal 2009
84 min., OV with English subs
Followed by a talk with Mama Keïta
Adama returns to Dakar from France after 15 years when he receives a telegram that his grandmother is ill - But there is nothing wrong with her and the telegram is just a means of getting him to return home. The Absence is a refreshing reflexion about the brain drain on the African continent.
Mama Keïta was born in Dakar, Senegal, to a Vietnamese mother and a Guinean father. He studied law at the University of Paris I. He has directed and produced a documentary and several long feature films, including 2009’s award-winning film The Absence.
Director Daouda Coulibaly Mali/ France/ Senegal 2016
95 min., OV with English subs
Followed by a talk with Daouda Coulibaly
Ladji works as a minibus driver in Malis capital Bamako. When an opportunity for advancement fails, he decides to enter the profitable drug business. With Wúlu, the young director Daouda Coulibaly contributes successfully to the debate about the connection of so-called failed states and international criminality.
Daouda Coulibaly is a director and writer, known for Tinye So (2010), Wùlu (2016) and Lonesome When You Go.
Director King Boama Darko Ampaw Ghana 1983
83 min., OV with English subs
Addey works as a Lorry-Driver between the village Kukurantumi and the Ghanaian capital Accra. When he loses his job, Addey leaves for Accra, to start an own transport business there. While his daughter Abena shares his hopes for a better future, his wife remains skeptical… Kukurantumi describes the attitude and life of young adults between urban and rural space in the 1980s in Ghana.
Director Akin Omotoso South Africa 2011
80 min., OV with English subs
Followed by a talk with Akin Omotoso
Ade is a successful banker in London, while his half-brother Femi as a political dissident had to escape from Nigeria to South Africa. During a visit in Johannesburg, Ade discovers that Femi has been missing for a week and so he sets out to investigate. Akin Omotoso creates with his film Man on Ground convincing narratives about the conflicts between South Africans and Migrants in Post-Apartheid-South Africa.
Akin Omotoso (1974) is a Nigerian film director, writer, and actor, known for Tell Me Sweet Something (2015), Man on Ground (2011) and Blood Diamond (2006). Along with Robbie Thorpe and Kgomotso Matsunyane he founded the production company T.O.M pictures in 2003.
Director Michel K. Zongo France/ Burkina Faso 2011
81 min., OV with English subs
Followed by a talk with Michel K. Zongo
Years after the death of his brother, the Burkinabe filmmaker Michel Zongo is travelling to Cote d'Ivoire. Like many young men, Joanny was searching for a job in the rich neighbouring country. The director sets out to learn about Joanny's life and the circumstances of his death. Espoir Voyage is an emotional story about the disappearance of a brother in exile, but also an investigation into the history of working migration between Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire.
Michel K. Zongo, born in 1974 in Koudougou, Burkina Faso, is a director, cameraman and scriptwriter. From 2003 to 2008, he was responsible for the Interactive Debate-Cinema at Cinomade, an association based in Burkina Faso whose objective is to create and distribute tools to increase awareness, notably through the cinema.
Director Djibril Diop Mambéty Senegal 1973
95 min., OV with English subs
Mory and Anta are dreaming of going to Paris. Mory is a shepherd, but his herds were sent to the slaughterhouse. Anta is a young student, who lives like him on the edge of society. The two young people are ready to do everything in order to save money for their journey. The film Touki Bouki is one of the most radical films of all times - not only because of its attitude towards the former colonists. It stands as an encouragement for the youth of the African continent in the 1970s.
