Berlin in Migration Cinema: From Migrant Ghettos to Culturally Hybrid Urban Districts - Detailseite

The labour migration from Southern European countries to Germany, which started in the mid-1950s, had an important socio-economic and socio-cultural impact on the countries’ societies and influenced their film culture. German filmmakers began to feature the first guestworkers’ difficult lives in films such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Katzelmacher (1969). In the 1990s, second- and third–generation Turkish-German directors such as Fatih Akın and Thomas Arslan marked the end of the so-called ‘guestworker cinema’ and started to create a transnational and diasporic cinema featuring a culturally hybrid Germany. Berlin (especially Kreuzberg) has always been one of the favorite settings in all of these migration movies. The transformation of Berlin’s first Guestworker Ghettos to culturally hybrid urban districts over the course of 60 years is very well reflected in all of these cinema cultures. This interdisciplinary course crosses and connects the academic fields of migration studies, film studies, and cultural studies. In the first part of the course, we will explore how migration, immigrants, and diasporas are represented in cinema. The second part of the course then gets more specific and we approach the representation of Berlin in these migration movies.

Language requirements: English B2, German A2

• The detailed syllabus for this course is available on the Berlin Perspectives website:
   https://hic.hu-berlin.de/en/berlin-perspectives/courses 
• This course is part of the Berlin Perspectives program for international exchange students. Regular degree-seeking students are also welcome to attend within the elective part of their study program. Courses are offered by the Career Center as part of the elective program üWP.
• Berlin Perspectives seminars are specifically designed for undergraduate-level students. As a Master's student, please check with your university beforehand to confirm whether the study points can be recognized.
• Upon completion of the seminar, students will receive 5 ECTS.
• Places are allocated via Agnes through a lottery procedure (not on a first-come, first-served basis).
• Registration for the Summer Semester 2025 is open until Wednesday, 9 April, 14:00 (2:00pm). 
   If you have missed the registration deadline, it is still possible to register for the waiting list on Agnes.
• You will be notified by 11 April 2025 if you have been allocated a place.
• If you are in, please make sure to attend the first session to confirm your participation. If you have changed your mind about the course, kindly sign out in Agnes. Other students will be happy to take your place in the seminar.
• If are on the waiting list, there is still a chance of moving up in the first few weeks of the semester if other students decide to drop the course. In that case, please inform the teachers of your interest.