By 
By: BRIDGET JOHNSON
Staff Writer
Is being born in Germany enough to make a person German? The Diversity in Film series at IUSB is exploring German identification and immigration struggles.
The Civil Rights Heritage Center and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are sponsoring the events. On Jan. 27, they kicked off the series of film viewings in Wiekamp Hall, room 1001.
Germany has begun trying to define the German identity in regard to immigration. This struggle started more recently than it did in the United States according to Jeffrey Luppes, assistant German language professor.
“Germany is very much in debate about what is German or who is German and how you define what German is. It’s a very recent phenomenon,” Luppes said.
The first film shown was “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul” directed and written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Students looked on as Ali, a Moroccan immigrant to Germany, married an older German woman. The two characters experienced discrimination for being in an interracial relationship. The gravity of the subject was complemented by comedy at times and treated in a sincere manner.
“When people see things like this they learn about Germany itself but maybe it will spark an interest and it will connect to something in their lives,” Luppes said.
After the film, students and faculty discussed the experiences of characters in the film. Marc Rodriguez, event sponsor, and Luppes explained Germany’s immigration issues.
The next film will be “Head On” which is about German-Turkish migration. Screening begins at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 in Wiekamp Hall room 1001.
