Refugees in film: a short overview
ESSAY
Text by Friedericke Suckert
It’s 2015 and every day thousands of refugees try to reach the supposedly safe Western Europe. Beneath all the artisans and doctors, a lot of artists want to live a better life. But how will this be possible? Beside the big amount of money, you need networks and friends, your aesthetics should work in a different cultural context or fill a new niche. Thinking about all those adversities it’s time to research all those historic exile artists, their influence and their failures. The biggest refugee crisis of modern times took place in 1933-1945. When Nazi Germany occupied Europe, a lot of Jewish, communist, LGBTIA*, Sinti and Roma and other people were forced to flee where ever they could get a visa to. It’s no secret how much German filmmakers influenced Hollywood. One of the most important ones is Marlene Dietrich, who emigrated in 1930 for the „Blue Angel“ by Josef von Sternberg. (Fun Fact: Hitler’s first camera lady Leni Riefenstahl also having been one of his favorite girls for this part.) Dietrich became a legend and a super star, she supported the U.S. American troops during World War II and was treated like a traitress in Germany afterwards. She never returned, although she worked a lot in Europe. Marlene Dietrich is one big name for success, but no one really knows how many actresses and actors failed overseas. A lot of them were able to live because of the “European Film Fund”, established in 1938 for the support of pursued Jewish filmmakers. Times were still rough, especially for the technicians. The Union for Film Workers paid a lot of attention that their U.S. American members still got enough jobs. The USA in general and Hollywood in particular didn’t offer a warm welcome to all those refugees in pure need. A few were able to work in France in the beginning of the persecution. Max Ophüls and Richard Oswald for example, but as the occupation started they also had to leave. Fritz Lang, the director of “Metropolis” left Germany in panic, even though Goebbels loved his work. He was able to work in Hollywood, also shot Anti-Nazi-Movies. But still, too many artists died in German concentration camps. After the war, only a few of the expats returned to Germany and tried to process their hurting and dark experiences, like Peter Lorre and Fritz Kortner, but after six years of war and twelve of persecution, the Germans didn’t want to see anything about the past. They needed Operettes and comedy, no accusations of their own guilt. The big film organization in the Soviet Zone of Germany was called DEFA, a governmental institution. They didn’t hesitate and exhibited the crimes of the Nazi regime. “The murderers are among us” is the first drama, taking place at the bombed and destroyed Berlin, about the exconcentration camp prisoner Susanne and an exsoldier, who try to move past their experiences. Most of the movies in the new GDR were communist propaganda, but the rules became loose year after year. A lot of old novels and Grimm fairy tales were staged, they’re still legendary, * Lesbian, Gay, Bi Trans Inter and Asexuell
because of the beautiful and fond settings and the lovely story telling. Time goes by and a lot of young directors and actors/actresses grew up. “The Beatles” and the “Rolling Stones” changed everything, young people dreamed of Beat music and freedom. And they put their dreams on the big screen. “Spur der Steine/Track of the Stones” in 1966 was rated as “non-socialistic”, so the director Frank Beyer wasn’t allowed to work for the DEFA for ten years. The pressure on the artists grew bigger and bigger, spies decomposed the scene and so people started to flee. Especially those who protested against the expatriation of the singer and songwriter Wolf Biermann were forced to leave the country and the creative scene changed a lot. On the other side of the Wall, a lot of them needed to start a new career, because no one knew or waited for them. A few actors like Manfred Krug became TV stars, but most of them worked on tiny province stages. Katharina Thalbach, a former Brechtactress, celebrated big successes, but she was one in a million, a big talent. Armin Müller-Stahl and Ulrich Mühe also worked in Hollywood and Punk icon Nina Hagen was able to start a new life in the USA, those were the lucky exceptions. When the Wall came down, most of the expat film people were left in a grey zone: the East Germans could forgive them the betrayal, the West Germans still didn’t know them. So a lot of them were trapped in a kind of ‘Nostalgia’, did Cabaret and Boulevard. A functioning network kind of trapped in a certain circle of insiders. The prejudice started to fade and the East German drama schools grew popular again, well known for their intense and disciplined work with their protégées. Another big part of “Exile movies” are the Iranian directors, who have to face the conservative Islamic regime. The Iranian National Film Society was founded by Esmail Koushan and Farrok Ghaffari in 1949. Iranian movies aren’t like Hollywood or Bollywood movies: they’re not supposed to be a big office hit, they’re supposed to be alternative and aesthetic. Iran was an open minded society, a lot of young directors were trained in the 1970s. They travelled around the world, earned a lot of awards at big European Film Festivals and were loved for the unique Farsi beauty. That all ended with the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Ajatollah Chomeini’s soldiers burned down half of the theatres in the country, there was no minister for
film anymore and every kind of Western art was persecuted. In 1975 Iran produced 68 films, in 2005 there were 26.. Nowadays the movies that are allowed are big commercial hits, stories about the Great Islamic Revolution or flat romantic comedies. But the alternative filmmakers are very much active, there’s a big underground scene. Directors who are under house arrest make movies with their smart phones, put them on a USB and smuggle them to big Festivals like Cannes or Venezia. The last big success was “Taxi Teheran” by Jafar Panahi at the Berlinale 2015, where he won the Golden Bear. It’s about life nowadays, where he’s surrounded by spies and it’s hard to find a little niche where he can breathe. Iranian movies are often a simple observation of life itself. Also a lot of women are part of this underground scene. Their kind of story telling is very artistic and often kind of reflects the classic Persian culture. Like the work of Shirin Neshat. Most of Iranian don’t want to leave their country, even though they’re facing all these restrictions. The bond between them and their country is to thick. “You can’t make Iranian movies when you’re not in Iran.” The new generation of female directors like Marjane Satrapi (“Persepolis”) and Ana Lily Amirpour (“A girl walks home alone at night”), who grew up in Europe and USA combine their Oriental origins and Western experiences into a new and more plain style of Persian culture. European directors with foreign roots are also a big essential part of our culture! Fatih Akin, son of a Turkish foreign worker, is one of the best directors of our times. He shows the conflict between the Turkish roots and German society in a brutal way in “Gegen die Wand / Head-on”, but also the resulting subculture. The French-Algerian director and actor Kad Merad is a superstar of French comedy, exposing the French clichés. Culture Clash is a beloved and needed genre in European Film, the Brits are still the masters of it. Well... The conclusion is: Refugees welcome! Alignment is a basic ingredient of film making and storytelling. We always need the input of foreign cultures and someone who holds a mirror towards us. Unfortunately, a lot of young artists won’t be able to develop their creativity if they can’t find a network or welcoming surrounding. Let’s hope they do and great things will happen.
