TRANSIT BLOG

TRANSIT Blog was formerly part of the Multicultural Germany Project (MGP), which we are now merging with Transit Journal. Founded in 2001 by the German Department at UC Berkeley, MGP served as a research collaborative and continuously updated archive of migration, supported by the tireless energy and willpower of our very own Deniz Göktürk and UC Berkeley’s graduate students. Our blog includes reactions to current events and news, research materials, and teaching resources. Maintained mainly by students at Berkeley, the blog provides a window into our activities and campus discussions. We hope that TRANSIT Blog continues to serve as a resource and forum for both aspiring and continuing professionals in German Studies and its adjacent fields; we welcome contributions of short thought-pieces of ca. 1000-1500 words year-round. If you would like to contribute your own blog post or other materials (in English or German), please contact us at transitjournal@berkeley.edu.

  • Die Kinder meiner Tochter (My Daughter’s Children)

    With actors Jürgen Prochnow, Petra Kleinert, Mia Kasalo, and Ugur Ekeroglu.  After retired judge and widower Ernst Blessing (Jürgen Prochnow) loses his estranged daughter in a traffic accident, he must come to terms with his past and his loneliness when he is forced to assume responsibility for his two grandchildren until their Kurdish father is…

  • Die Erbin (The Heiress)

    With actors Mina Sadic and Oktay Çagla.  A young German-Turkish woman, Hülya (Sadic), returns from Germany to her late father’s small mountain village in Turkey to write about him. As she learns more about him, she finds her impression of him shifting, nebulous and not wholly positive, and time and place itself become disoriented. Links: IMDB,…

  • Die alten bösen Lieder (The Bad Old Songs)

    With actors Alexander Gallant, Gerhard Hinze, Peter Lewan. The “European Visions” omnibus includes 25 short films from the 25 countries that constituted the European Union in 2004. The project was inspired by Lars von Trier. Filmmakers had five minutes to explore the theme of “Europe.” The German segment (number 23) is titled “Die alten bösen Lieder”…

  • Der nötige Schneid (What It Takes)

    color, Germany, Özgür Yıldırım, 6 Min, 2002 With actors Alexander Gallant, Gerhard Hinze, Peter Lewan. Student film from Turkish-German auteur Özgür Yildirim’s time at the Hamburg Media School. Links: IMDB Genre(s): Short film

  • Chiko

    With actors Denis Moschitto, Moritz Bleibtreu, and Volkan Özcan. Set in Hamburg and produced by Fatih Akin, Chiko is a tale of the son of an immigrant family Issa (Denis Moschitto) and his friend Tibet (Volkan Özcan) who dream of becoming big-time drug dealers, until they hook up with local dealer and pimp Brownie (Moritz Bleibtreu). Links: IMDB…

  • Berivan

    With actors Ebru Kücük, Hatice Kücük, and Bawer Sahin. Director Miraz Bezar’s short film won the prize for Best Short Film at the Nuremberg International Humans Rights Film Festival. Links: IMDB Genre(s): Drama

  • Bastarde. Postmigrantisches Theater Ballhaus Naunynstraße (Bastards – Postmigrant Theater at the Ballhaus Naunynstraße)

    color, Germany, Asli Özarslan, 25 Min, 2011 Germany-based Turkish filmmaker Asli Özarslan’s documentary introduces us to the performers at the Berlin theater Ballhaus Naunynstraße, which features mostly actors and directors with immigrant backgrounds. Genre(s): Documentary

  • Barbara

    With actors Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, and Jasna Fritzi Bauer. Christian Petzold’s critically acclaimed historical drama follows Barbara Wolff (Nina Hoss), a physician in East Germany who is imprisoned and relocated for requesting permission to the leave the country. Though she hasn’t given up hope of escape, her plans take an unpredictable turn when she…

  • Anatolia Blues – In Memoriam Aşık Veysel

    Directors Gülseren Suzan and Jochen Menzel’s documentary about Anatolian folk music pays tribute to the poet and singer Aşık Veysel. Links: YouTube (Clip) Genre(s): Documentary

  • 300 Worte Deutsch (300 Words of German)

    With Pegah Ferydoni, Christoph Maria Herbst, Vedat Erincin, Christoph Letkowski. Shot and set in Cologne, Aladağ’s comedy of culture shock and integration follows the efforts of the leader of a Turkish diaspora communit,y, Cengiz Demirkan (Vedat Erincin), to find Turkish brides for the men of the community. Dr. Ludwig Sarheimer (Christoph Maria Herbst) runs the immigration…