Becoming Black
91 mins
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.
Armin Gundermann
Self
Christel Anders
Self
Werner Anders
Self
Rosi Judisch
Self
Raymond Johnson
Self
Perpétue Johnson
Self
Asiaba Johnson
Self
Gisela Mwaungulu
Self
Ernst Hoffmann
Self
Felicia Johnson
Self
Philipe Dütsch
Self
Julius Hensel
Self
Benino Eßling
Self
Cécile Dütsch
Self
Louisa Schirner
Self
Mario Hensel
Self
Ines Johnson-Spain
Director
Ines Johnson-Spain
Writer
Anahita Nazemi
Producer
Yana Höhnerbach
Editor
Anne Misselwitz
Cinematography
Ulla Kösterke
Sound
Brooke Trezise
Sound Designer
Jean-Paul Bourelly
Music
Corneille Houssou
Sound
Manuela Schininá
Sound
Katrin Sandmann
Executive Producer
Stefan Mathieu
Executive Producer
Claudia Landsberger
Dramaturgy