Emails to My Little Sister

Solomon Mekonen 38 Minuten

„Emails to My Little Sister” ist ein autoethnographischer Film, basierend auf der Forschung des Filmemachers zum Thema „Becoming Black” in Berlin. in E-MailKorrespondenzen mit seiner Schwester in Äthiopien reflektiert er seine eigenen Erfahrungen in Deutschland und wie sich seine Wahrnehmung darauf, schwarz zu sein, verändert. Allmählich tretet der Unterschied der beiden Länder und die Auswirkungen auf die Geschwister in den Vordergrund. Der Film entstand im Rahmen der Masterarbeit „Phenomenology of Blackness in Berlin”.

“Emails to My Little Sister” trifft mit seinem Thema “becoming black in Berlin” perfekt den heutigen Zeitgeist. Der Regisseur lässt die Zuschauer*innen die Unterschiede von zwei Kontinenten, das Bild Afrikas aus der Sicht Europas sowie die westliche Einmischung in die Angelegenheiten auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent. Der Film bringt die Zuschauer*innen dazu ihr eigenes Bild über Afrika zu hinterfragen.

Interview mit dem/der Rigisseuren/Regisseurin

Q&A

What is your understanding of an “ethnographic film”?

As there is no conclusive consensus on what an ethnographic film is, my understanding of it is still evolving. But when I made “Emails to My Little Sister”, I had used the idea of an ethnographic film as a visual intervention into the life world of my research subjects – an intervention which is informed by anthropological theories and methods.
For me, it has also meant to appropriate both the language of cinema and ethnographic film for my own purpose. That is to say, I told my own story in media which often times insist on “me” being a backdrop of someone else’s story and used a discipline which suffers from issues of representation to inform it.

How did you choose the subject of your film?

“Emails to My Little Sister” is a result of an autoethnographic research. After moving to Berlin and upon discovering that I was Black, I wanted to understand what being Black exactly meant. As such, the subject is somehow a thrusted-upon subject which followed a loss of “innocence”. In my country of origin, growing up, I did not need to think of Black as a racial category, which is a European invention.

How long have you been in the region?

Where the research was conducted, which is Berlin, it was three years prior to filming – which took place in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

How did you achieve getting the protagonists in front of the camera?

My sister was part of my autoethnographic journey. As we are very close, we are in contact almost daily. When I decided to film the film in Ethiopia on an experimental idea that I devised, which is “a film about Solomon without much of Solomon, a film about Berlin without so much of Berlin”, she was more than happy to be my collaborator.

For instance: Did you have the feeling that the camera was creating a distance between you and the protagonists?

Quite to the contrary, the camara was rather allowing us to explore new ways of communicating. As siblings we usually joke around while conversing. The presence of the camera did create some sort of “serious intimacy” which otherwise I don’t think would have come about easily. The fact that my sister is a TV journalist and is used to the camera should also be considered.

What did you personally learn from the production of your film?

I would say the process was a wonderful affirmation of my love for the medium and that the possibilities what one can do with it is endless and that anthropology should utilise it more than it currently does.

Are you planning on producing similar films concerning style and subject in the future?

Certainly. I am currently in a perimammary stage to use film as a research method for a PhD.

Is there any advice you would give future ethnological filmmakers?

I don’t particularly have anything to say, I am not really the advice giver type.

Das könnte dir auch gefallen

Lost Boy
Shin Thadar
2019

I am Sheriff
Teboho Edkins
2017

Lost Boy
Shin Thadar
2019

I am Sheriff
Teboho Edkins
2017

Impressum und Datenschutzerklärung