Enough with the turco-german dramas
National identity in my case is not something fixed, but a thing that is changing. Sometimes I feel more like a Turkish woman, and sometimes more like a German one. When I am in Turkey - I feel more like a German woman. And vice versa.
Yasemin Samdereli was born in Dortmund in 1973. From 1993 to 2000 she studied at the School of Film and Television in Munich. From 1994 to 1998 she was associate of Bavaria Film and worked as an assistant director in many international productions. She recorded a TV comedy Alles getürkt! In 2002, she was a collaborator on the script of the series Türkisch für Anfänger, and appeared in front of cameras for the first time in 2004 in the film Delicious. Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland is her film debut.
That way, after several dramas, a comedy – Welcome to Germany, joined the group of films that deal with themes from the life of Turks in Germany. This film as well, by admission of its director and co scenarist Yasemin Şamdereli, could have been a drama, but she and her sister Nesrin, who worked together on the script, prefer a brighter view of life. Perhaps it is, due to this approach, why they waited ten years for realization of this debut film.
Was the decade-long waiting worth it, having in mind that the film became a hit in German cinemas, earning 1.2 million EUR so far?
More things obviously coincided. People are, in my opinion, fed up with drama. That is why they like our easy - but hopefully not stupid - comedy about the life of Turks in Germany. It seems that they feel familiar with the family aspect of the film as well, and the presentation on Berlinale which was in the media, certainly contributed to its success.Your sister and you, members of your family's third generation in Germany, have brought into the film a lot of personal experiences.
Since in the film you deal with the theme of complexity of identity, how do you personally see yourself – as a German or a Turkish woman?
I feel mostly like a puzzle. National identity in my case is not something fixed, but a thing that is changing. Sometimes I feel more like a Turkish woman, and sometimes more like a German one. When I am in Turkey - I feel more like a German woman, and vice versa. People are much more complex and determined not only by nationality they belong to. Sometimes I fell less a woman and more a European woman. In the film Welcome to Germany we just wanted to focus on the human aspect, universal for all families, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. It always made me sad that my grandmother or grandfather were looked at through stereotypes. Although she wore a feridza, my grandmother was very self-conscious and witty, a complex personality. But the people who came to our house did not notice that. For them she was just a woman who poured them more tea, and spoke German poorly.
How do you see the position of German artists of Turkish origin? Apart from the filmmakers, among which the most famous is certainly Fatih Akin, there are well-known writers, artists, hip-hop artists...
I think that it is a matter that is the same for all cultures. A crisis or a problem can lead to artistic creativity. I suspect that many Turco-German artists while growing up asked themselves more complicated questions, because of their origin and status.
On the other hand, the fact that what we can look at life from various cultural aspects, makes us more complex and richer.
This is your first time at Palić. What do you think about the Festival ?
The festival has an intimate atmosphere and I like that very much. Larger festivals are too focused on work and people are not as "warm". In that sense, Palić is a different experience for me. I'm glad to be here.
