So here it is. A first proposal feels a bit like joining a nudist group. Except you really aren't into nude beaches, you don't know anybody, and everybody gets to have a peek. Well, what the heck. Here it goes. Let me know what you think. Seriously from the tiniest thing to the most devastating critique, I'd appreciate it.
“Forborne Identity” (Working title)
Proposal for a New Documentary
Identity is not fixed, but something made and discovered in vital negotiation with others
-John Cassavetes
LOGLINE
"Forborne Identity” is the journey of a man born and raised in the former East Germany but now living in Canada trying to make sense of his national and personal identity during the twentieth anniversary of the reunification of both Germanys. Despite the celebratory mood surrounding the reunification, he is asking simple, provocative questions that lead us to doubts in national identity, examine clichés of modern news and Cold War narratives. His encounters, uncertainties and inner struggles lead us to reflect on the paradoxes of modern identity.
Project Summary
The Idea
This idea grew out of interviews I, as a German of the former East Germany, was asked to do by a number of Canadian broadcasters on the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Publicly narrating my personal experiences to a large Canadian audience had a profound effect on me. It sent me on a journey of revisiting my own past, starting in the late eighties and the end of the GDR, the fall of the Berlin Wall, my studies and travels, working abroad, and finally immigrating to Canada. Through this journey I was again and again confronted with a German past and identity that felt alien to me and I struggled to relate to a shared history and new emerging identity that is yet to be defined.
What is identity?
Personal identity (WordNet 2.1) (2005)
The distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity
"You can lose your identity when you join the army"
National identity (A. D. Smith 1991)
A named population sharing an historic territory, common myths and historical memories, a mass public culture, a common economy and common legal rights and duties for its members
It became apparent to me that the dialogue I found myself engaged in about my identity as a German spoke to the need to address not only my own personal questions about identity but also larger questions about the construction of modern national identity and how personal and national identities are enmeshed within one another. While questions of both a personal and a larger sense of identity are universal and speak to a human narrative that all of us share insofar as we all need to make sense of who we are and how we see ourselves in the larger world, I believe that the question of contemporary German identity illuminates the inadequacy of the usual framework of national identity/historical construction of identity.
Does it matter?
Who am I? What makes me unique as a person? How am I different from others? Am I just defined by how others see me or the way I see myself? What does it mean to be a German? How do I relate to a history shaped by two world wars, the Holocaust, the Cold War and the reunification of Germany, and an emerging European Union? Who decides what German identity is? Can we resolve German identity with the multiplicitous meanings that have evolved historically? Can German identity transcend its history and historical construction?
The example of the German makes for an interesting story. It provides multiple opportunities to bring to the fore many of the difficulties that arise with a notion of the “us” and the “other”.
I believe I am suited to tell this story because of my own experiences as a German who has spent most of his adult life living outside of Germany.
NARRATIVE SYNOPSIS
Every venture is a difficult undertaking with obstacles and roadblocks. Mine was this. Personal and national identity are a relevant and modern topic deserving a documentary. In the case of Germany it is also convoluted and complex. How do I try to give it justice and appeal to a wider and more diverse audience?
My original approach was a participatory documentary featuring interviews with authoritative voices on the topic supported by archival film and historical material. Yet I came to the conclusion that this approach would be deficient in that it would be premised on that which it is actually trying to discover and therefore it would overlook the ideas and challenges posed by the questions of German identity.
After much research and discussions I realized the reflexive nature of the project. Not only am I interested in how Germany is perceived and in trying to penetrate and uncover an emerging national identity, but I also started to question my own motives in starting this endeavour. In the end I decided on a self-reflexive documentary. Not only will it help to give the viewer a sense of emotional urgency and a sense of inner struggle to come to terms with a complex subject but it will also shape the project into a coherent whole
The narrative I am creating is a work in progress. I envision this production as a living dialogue that would be shaped and generated by the process of interviewing a broad spectrum of individuals from diverse communities throughout Toronto who are historically connected to Germany supporting their narratives by drawing on historical materials from various public sources.
WHERE I START is downtown Toronto, showing people talking about what they know or perceive about Germany and German identity. This will likely include historical references such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War, a divided Germany, the Third Reich and the Holocaust, and it may include Turkish immigration; as well, stereotypical aspects of Germany such as automobiles, beer, public transport, and classical music will likely be mentioned.
The main character and interviewer just arrived recently to live and work in Canada. Being of East German origin he is confronted with these stereotypes and forced to make sense of them, identify with some while rejecting others. His first reactions are sincere if somewhat simplistic. He tries to identify with positive images while repressing and avoiding others. He is also outside of his comfort zone and quickly realises that he has to explore his own identity and the idea of a national identity in order to come to terms with his new home.
During his journey:
- He visits a German-Canadian family that immigrated to Canada in the mid-sixties, discovers the difficulties and stigma the parents encountered contrasted to the story of their children
- He visits a Korean-Canadian in exploring the idea of a unified Korea and an existing/non-existing identity of a unified Korea.
- At a war memorial he is interviewing a Canadian second war veteran, inquiring about his experiences and how they ultimately shaped his personal identity and his identity of being Canadian
- He gets in contact with a family in Toronto’s large Jewish community. Here a number of options are available to peel away at the narrators own self-defences and narrate his historical upbringing
- Interviews young Canadian artists. Here another image and experience of a more contemporary Berlin and Germany emerges
The story of the film emerges through the lens of a somewhat narrow starting point of the narrator. He is not authoritative on the subject himself. He is exploring but limited in his vision. It is a delicate story as it will have to unfold in the dialogue with the interviewees that will open up larger questions of who we are and how we relate to one another.
STATUS OF THE FILM
The film is a work progress. To further support the depth of research I have established contact with a number of individuals including: Mark Webber and John Paul Kleiner at the Canadian Centre of German and European Studies; Ruth Renters, the Deputy Director of Goethe Institute Toronto; Karen Thuernau at the German Consulate in Toronto; Inaugural Director, Doina Popescu at Ryerson Photography Gallery and Research Centre; and German Coordinator, Erol M. Boran at the University of Toronto.
SUPPORT AND TARGETS
Throughout this project I will be able to draw on the expertise and insights of my mentor, Holm Taddiken, managing director of Cine Impuls Leipzig Inc. and founder of Neufilm Inc. (http://neufilm.com) which is an organization in Leipzig, Germany committed to supporting aspiring filmmakers. Furthermore, Roger Walch, an independent Swiss filmmaker and musician (http://www.rowmuse.com) based in Kyoto, Japan, has also expressed interest in assisting with this project. A successful completion of this project could make a timely contribution to public discourse throughout Germany about national identity along with Europe as a whole about the European Union, and I believe that central European broadcasters such as Arte, ARD, ZDF or MDR would be interested in the production I propose here. Furthermore, I believe that this project would have the potential to draw interest from Canadian broadcasters owing to its focus on national identity.
