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.

  • Schussangst (Gun-Shy)

    With actors Fabian Hinrichs and Lavinia Wilson “Gun-Shy” is a poetic thriller, depicting the desolation and disintegration of Lukas, a misfit. His life takes a strange turn for the worse when he becomes involved in an unrequited love affair with Isabella. Lukas is doing civil service, delivering “meals on wheels” to the old and sick.…

  • Grenzverkehr (Border Traffic)

    With actors Andreas Buntscheck , Joseph M’Barek, Ferdinand Schmidt-Modrow Available on DVD in Germany Three awkward 16-year-old boys from a small Bavarian village decide to lose their virginity in the nearby Czech Republic, a common spot for German sex-tourists. After they lose their borrowed mopeds to a couple of pimps, they get themselves and pregnant…

  • Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages (Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys)

    With actors Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvic, Ona Lu Yenke, Sepp Bierbichler, Arsinee Khanjian The lives of a struggling film actress, a Kosovo War photographer, his wayward brother, a Romanian beggar, and an African émigré come crashing together after a fateful event on a Parisian street corner. Haneke offers a scathing critique of the response to…

  • Günese Yolculuk – Reise zur Sonne (Journey to the Sun)

    With actors Nazmi Qirix and Newroz Baz Mehmet, a young Turkish man newly migrated from the village Tire, takes a job searching for water leaks below the surface of the streets of Istanbul. Due to a strange set of events, he is mistaken for a Kurd, imprisoned, and brutally beaten. Upon his release a week…

  • Lost Killers

    With actors Nicole Seelig and Mišel Maticevic English availability “Lost Killers” follows a group of curious characters, stranded in the city of Mannheim, all of them struggling to survive and to fulfil their dreams. Branko and Merab are two hapless hitmen assigned to kill a businessman for reasons unknown. Absurd coincidences prevent them from carrying…

  • Gölge – Zukunft der Liebe (Shadow)

    With actors Semra Uysal and Yüksel Topcugürler Links: Film Portal

  • Wholetrain

    Produced by Christoph Müller; Sven Burgemeister; Silke Bacher With actors Mike Adler, Florian Renner, Elyas M’Barek, Jacob Matschenz, Gerald Alexander Held Um Respekt vor dem Einzelnen und um Anerkennung innerhalb eines sehr speziellen Kollektivs geht es in Florian Gaags Spielfilmdebüt. Das Low-Budget- Projekt mit dem Anspruch, die Realität der Graffiti-Szene authentisch darzustellen, erzählt die Geschichte…

  • Der geteilte Himmel (The Divided Heaven)

    With actors Paul Berndt and Renate Blume Die Büroangestellte Rita Seidel aus Halle findet durch die Liebe zu dem zehn Jahre älteren Chemiker Manfred Herrfurth die Kraft, aus ihrem Beruf auszubrechen und zu studieren. Nach einem Besuch in Westberlin kehrt die DDR-Bürgerin Rita Seidel freiwillig in ihre Heimat zurück, wo sie einen Nervenzusammenbruch erleidet und…

  • Bagdad Café (Out of Rosenheim)

    With actors Marianne Sägebrecht, CCH Pounder, Jack Palance, Christine Kaufmann available in USA on DVD Out of Rosenheim (Bagdad Café) is a look into the minds and lives of some people most of us have met but few of us know much about. This movie exemplifies how one person in the right place can affect…

  • Crossing the Bridge – The Sound of Istanbul

    With actors Alexander Hacke, Baba Zula, Sezen Aksu, Erkin Koray, Selim Sesler 2004 has been an exciting and busy year for Hamburg-based filmmaker Fatih Akin. To begin with, his feature Head-On (“Gegen die Wand”) won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale and then picked up four “Lolas” at the German Film Awards. What’s more, he…