CinemaOSMovie · 2019 · 1h 31m

Becoming Black

60%(2)IMDbDocumentary

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.

Directed byInes Johnson-Spain

Play
Status
Released
Runtime
1h 31m
Language
DE
Released
October 9, 2019
Studios
ZDFKobalt Productions

Featuring

Cast & crew

10 credited
Starring

Ines Johnson-Spain

Self

Armin Gundermann

Self

Madeleine Papangou Johnson

Self

Germaine Papangou Johnson

Self

Geneviève Papangou Johnson

Self

Irène Papangou Johnson

Self

Christel Anders

Self

Werner Anders

Self

Rosi Judisch

Self

Christophe Kuessi Johnson

Self

Creative team
Directed by
Ines Johnson-Spain
Written by
Ines Johnson-Spain
Produced by
Anahita Nazemi

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