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.

  • Gespenster (Ghosts)

    With actors Julia Hummer, Sabine Timoteo Available on DVD in Germany Ein Mann fährt von Paris nach Berlin. Er sucht dort seine Frau. In einer Psychiatrie in Spandau findet er sie und nimmt sie wieder mit, zurück nach Paris. Jedes Jahr fährt die Frau nach Berlin und sucht ihre Tochter, die dort 1989 im Alter…

  • Hop

    Produced by Thierry De Coster, Michel Houdmont, Dominique Standaert With actors Jan Declein, Antjie de Boeck, Alexandra Vandernot, Kalomba Mbuyi, Ansou Diedhiou, Emile M’Penza available on DVD in the US and Germany A boy gets an early lesson in issues of politics, race, and violent activism in this drama from Belgium. Justin (Kalomba Mbuy) is…

  • Ben Annemin Kiziyim – Ich bin die Tochter meiner Mutter (I’m My Mother’s Daughter)

    Die in der Türkei geborene und in Deutschland aufgewachsene Filmemacherin Seyhan Derin unternimmt in ihrem Debutfilm eine Reise in das Leben ihrer Mutter: einer Frau, die in einer ländlichen Region der Türkei groß geworden ist und nun bereits seit vielen Jahren in Deutschland zwischen zwei Welten und zwei Kulturen lebt. Der Vater, der sehr unter…

  • Anam – Meine Mutter (My Mother)

    color, Germany, Buket Alakuş, 86 Min, 2001   With actors Nursel Köse and Saskia Vester. Anam is a 40-year-old traditional Turkish wife and mother who lives with her family in Germany, where she works as a cleaning lady. When Anam finds out that her 20-year-old son Deniz has drifted into the drug scene and that…

  • Theo gegen den Rest der Welt (Theo against the Rest of the World)

    With actors Marius Müller-Westernhagen and Guido Gagliardi Theo is having some bad luck. His barely paid-for truck has been stolen, and credit collectors are after him. The chase leads him across Europe. Links: IMDB, Film Portal Genre(s): Comedy;

  • Das Fräulein (Fraulein)

    With actors Mirjana Karanovic In theaters in Germany Ruza, eine Frau um die fünfzig aus dem ehemaligen Jugoslawien, betreibt ein Café in der Schweiz, in der sie ein eisernes Regiment führt. Die alltägliche Routine der allein stehenden Frau wird jedoch durcheinander gewirbelt, als die 22-jährige Ana eine Stelle in ihrem Café annimmt. Die attraktive junge…

  • Katzelmacher

    Produced by Peer Raben With actors Hanna Schygulla, Lilith Ungerer, Rudolf Waldemar Brem, Elga Sorbas available on DVD in the US and Germany Katzelmacher documents life in a seemingly lifeless Munich and the sudden arrival of a Greek worker, played by Fassbinder himself. The majority of the film consists of inert sequences in which the…

  • Reise der Hoffnung (Journey of Hope)

    With actors Necmettin Çobanoglu, Emin Sivas, Yaman Okay limited availability on VHS (US) and DVD (Germany) Xavier Koller’s fact-based drama chronicles the hardships suffered by a family of Turkish farmers who sell all of their worldly possessions in order to fund an escape to the greener pastures of Switzerland. En route, they fall prey to…

  • Eine andere Liga (In Another League)

    With actors Karoline Herfurth and Ken Duken For Hayat, a 20-year-old girl of Turkish-German background, football is the most important thing in her life. She’s the best and most spirited player on her football team. But all of a sudden she’s got other things to think about. The doctors diagnose breast cancer. The operation changes…

  • November

    Kurz-Dokumentarfilm My best friend when I was 17, was a girl called Andrea Wolf. She died in 1998, when she was shot as a Kurdish terrorist in Eastern Anatolia. There was a warrant out for her in Germany, as she was suspected of having participated in terrorist activities, for example the complete destruction of the…