Ausländertest + Binationale Ehen  + Asyl in der BRD + Der Fall Kemal Altun

Followed by a joint discussion with Mareike Bernien and Merle Kröger.

Ausländertest
Navina Sundaram, FRG 1982, 6 min.
With a commentary by Georgios Tsiakalos

In a partly satirical contribution for extra drei, Navina Sundaram addresses mainstream perspectives on the subject of racism for the first time. She observes an experiment at the University of Bremen that attempts to disprove the thesis that prejudice against minorities and xenophobia is biologically innate. 

Binationale Ehen 
Navina Sundaram, FRG 1982, 12 min.

From the perspectives of women married to Iraqi, Portuguese and Nigerian men, the film paints a picture of a society that sees love and transcultural bonding as a betrayal of an imaginary national community, and in which anonymous letters, open insults and loosened lug nuts, as well as struggles for rights and recognition, are part and parcel of family life.

Asyl in der BRD
Navina Sundaram, FRG 1982, 10 min.

The film report begins early in the morning at the Hamburg Foreigners' Office; a two-class system prevails among the waiting people. Refugees from the Eastern Bloc are not allowed to be deported, yet for all others - those coming from Africa, Asia and Latin America - the rule is: make staying as unattractive as possible. Here, liberal asylum law meets restrictive policy and Hamburg's social welfare authority makes apparent the deterrence competition among the federal states.

Der Fall Kemal Altun
Navina Sundaram, FRG 1983, 9 min.
With a commentary by Merle Kröger and a video conversation with Navina Sundaram.

Kemal Altun, a student who was persecuted for contributing to a left-wing student newspaper and for alleged involvement in an assassination attempt, applied for asylum in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1981. At the same time, Turkey demanded his extradition, and he was placed in custody pending deportation. The asylum application was granted, but the extradition was not stopped - the Federal Ministry of the Interior sued the Federal Office for Asylum before the Berlin Administrative Court. During the court hearing, Altun committed suicide by jumping out of the window.