Wanjiru Kinyanjui: Black in the Western World - Berlinale Forum Special Fiktionsbescheinigung 2021

Wanjiru Kinyanjui

Black in the Western World
Berlinale
Forum Special Fiktionsbescheinigung 2021

The Berlinale Forum Special Fiktionsbescheinigung 2021 features Wanjiru Kinyanjui's seminal work on identity, belonging and the immigrant experience in Germany, produced by the Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB)

Image: Wanjiru Kinyanjui, Black in the Western World © Wanjiru Kinyanjui

"In the German context, I had a problem of identification: I was asked by a co-student why I made all my films on black people. I asked, why shouldn't I? Of course, it is because I was a foreigner and we shared not only problems of non-acceptance, but a common heritage. And also, if I don't, who is going to do it? The only problem with this is that one ends up in a ghetto—people want to keep you in it. I was getting sucked up in a spiral of having to deal with racism in everything I do—radio programs on black people in Germany, lectures on racism in film, teaching children about Africa, writing poems on my surroundings, etc." (Excerpt of interview from Sisters of the Screen by Beti Ellerson)

Wanjiru Kinyanjui

Black in the Western World

Germany 1992, 23min

with Natalie Asfaha, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Paul Ford

At the start of the 1990s, Kenyan DFFB student Kinyanjui grappled with how it felt to be Black in Germany. Racist material from German everyday culture rubs up against conversations with other Black people in Europe. Germany in the early 1990s: Racist caricatures, picture books and advertisements circulate within popular culture and are consumed by white audiences without second thought. In school playgrounds and classrooms, racist games and songs are part of everyday life. Filmmaker Wanjiru Kinyanjui and her interviewee Tsitsi Dangarembga analyse these supposed gags in a cool, detached fashion despite the traumatising violence of the images they contain. These scenes are cross-cut with others showing two men from Malawi and Namibia discussing right-wing extremism in Germany and encouraging Black people in Europe to fight against racism and neocolonialism. The film also examines Eurocentric ignorance about African art or the dark chapter of Germany’s colonial period. Back in the spotlight after an extended slumber in the archives, Black in the Western World uses interviews to deliver a sharp critique of racist as well as capitalist structures. Made while Kinyanjui was studying at the German Film and Television Academy (DFFB), the film raises awareness, strengthens and emboldens. (Can Sungu). Source: https://www.arsenal-berlin.de/en/programm-fiktionsbescheinigung/black-in-the-western-world/

Wanjiru had this to say about her film: "Nathalie, another friend of mine from the group, has been collecting images of black people on advertisements and she talked about it in my film, Black in the Western World.  She noted that they are negatively portrayed, too, although this is not obvious at first glance.  Others in the film are Mahoma from Malawi, who was hurt during a racist attack; Felix from Namibia, who was also bashed up on some occasion; and Tsitsi Dangarembga from Zimbabwe, who was at that time busy trying to understand life as a black woman in Germany. This film has been shown at community centers in Germany where Germans would get very upset about Africans summarizing their points of view.  They would be angry with me! Well, that is their own point of view." (Excerpt of interview from Sisters of the Screen by Beti Ellerson)