Becoming Black (2019)
In the 1960s, a white couple living in East Germany tells their dark-skinned child that her skin color is merely a coincidence. As a teenager, she accidentally discovers the truth. Years before, a group of African men came to study in a village nearby. Sigrid, an East German woman, fell in love with Lucien from Togo and became pregnant. But she was already married to Armin. The child is Togolese-East German filmmaker Ines Johnson-Spain. In interviews with Armin and others from her childhood years, she tracks the astonishing strategies of denial her parents, striving for normality, developed following her birth. What sounds like fieldwork about social dislocation becomes an autobiographical essay film and a reflection on themes such as identity, social norms and family ties, viewed from a very personal perspective.
Director: Ines Johnson-Spain
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Ines Johnson-Spain as Self |
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Armin Gundermann as Self |
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Madeleine Papangou Johnson as Self |
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Germaine Papangou Johnson as Self |
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Geneviève Papangou Johnson as Self |
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Irène Papangou Johnson as Self |
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Christel Anders as Self |
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Werner Anders as Self |
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Rosi Judisch as Self |
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Christophe Kuessi Johnson as Self |
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Michael Gundermann as Self |
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Raymond Johnson as Self |
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Perpétue Johnson as Self |
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Asiaba Johnson as Self |
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Gisela Mwaungulu as Self |
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Ernst Hoffmann as Self |
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Robert Kuessi Johnson as Self |
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Ruben Kweku Dabam Johnson as Self |
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Gisele Hountondji as Self |
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Gabriel Ampah Johnson as Self |
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Jacqueline Agbokou as Self |
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Felicia Johnson as Self |
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Philipe Dütsch as Self |
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Julius Hensel as Self |
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Benino Eßling as Self |
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Cécile Dütsch as Self |
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Louisa Schirner as Self |
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Mario Hensel as Self |
| Writing | Ines Johnson-Spain | Writer |
| Production | Anahita Nazemi | Producer |
| Directing | Ines Johnson-Spain | Director |
| Crew | Sebastian Winkels | Cinematography |
| Sound | Jean-Paul Bourelly | Music |
| Sound | Brooke Trezise | Sound Designer |
| Sound | Ulla Kösterke | Sound |
| Crew | Anne Misselwitz | Cinematography |
| Editing | Yana Höhnerbach | Editor |
| Sound | Corneille Houssou | Sound |
| Crew | Claudia Landsberger | Dramaturgy |
| Sound | Manuela Schininá | Sound |
| Production | Katrin Sandmann | Executive Producer |
| Production | Stefan Mathieu | Executive Producer |
