Germany is a country of immigration - this is also evident in the cinema. To mark its 40th anniversary, the  Osnabrück Film Festival invites you to a special panel discussion: Together with the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS) at Osnabrück University and the ThinkTank Migrationspolitik e.V., it wants to look back on 40 years of cinematic narratives about migration, belonging and identity.

From the discussion about guest workers in the 1980s, the "baseball bat years" in the 1990s to current debates about refugee migration and integration - the Osnabrück Film Festival aims to show how social developments in Germany as a country of immigration have been and continue to be addressed, processed and negotiated in independent film.

"Films contribute significantly to the interpretation and construction of reality and thus also to the perception of migrants. They have an impact, direct our gaze and attention, create visibility and invisibility and are heavily involved in social negotiation processes surrounding migration in a visually influenced culture," says Prof. Dr. Christoph Rass from the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS) at Osnabrück University. Together with the filmmaker Serpil Turhan and the cultural scientist and cultural worker Aurora Rodonò, he will discuss ruptures and continuities in cinematic perspectives on Germany as a country of immigration.

The free event will take place on Saturday, October 11, at the Felix Nussbaum House. It starts at 3 pm.

Further information for the media:
Vera Hanewinkel, Osnabrück University
Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies
E-mail:  vera.hanewinkel@uni-osanbrueck.de