E-5 ÖLÜM YOLU / GASTARBEITERSTRASSE + SILA YOLU

E-5 ÖLÜM YOLU / GASTARBEITERSTRASSE
Tuncel Kurtiz, Sweden 1978, 60 min. Swedish and Turkish with English subtitles

SILA YOLU - The Holiday Transit to Turkey and the Tales of the Highway
Can Sungu/Malve Lippmann, Germany/Turkey 2016, 25 min. German and Turkish with English subtitles

Sıla yolu, autoput, death road, way home - the former European route 5 (E5) between Germany and Turkey has many names. This transit route served generations of migrant workers as the main artery between Western Europe and their countries of origin. Today, the former "guest worker route" remains an important route for holidaymakers, commuters and new groups of immigrants.

Having lived and worked in Germany for many years, in his documentary Gastarbeiterstrasse shot in 1978 Tuncel Kurtiz portrays a variety of travelers on the former Europastraße (E5) between Germany and Turkey. The camera follows them during their long trip upon which many fatal accidents happen. A portrait of a highway which stands as a powerful documentation of the history of labor migration to Europe. 

Sıla yolu (Turkish for way home) focusses on the individual and collective narratives of highway travelers today, on the bringing of expectations, fantasies, memories and artifacts along the way. The documentary, supplemented by individual narratives and archival materials, deals not only with the physical path between two places, but also with complex emotions within which the concepts of culture, identity and community both oscillate wildly and are bound to immutable ideas.

Malve Lippmann is a freelance artist, curator and cultural manager. She studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart and at the Institute for Art in Context (UdK) in Berlin. As a freelance stage designer and artist, she has been internationally responsible for the design of numerous performances, opera- and theater productions. Since 2010, Malve Lippmann has been working as a curator and cultural manager, leading artistic workshops and seminars and is active in various cultural- and community projects. She is co-founder and artistic director of bi'bak and Sinema Transtopia.

Can Sungu is a freelance artist, curator and researcher. He studied film, interdisciplinary arts and visual communication design in Istanbul and Berlin. He gave lectures on film and video production, curated various programs and events on film and migration, and took part in numerous exhibitions. Selected publications: Please Rewind - German-Turkish Film- and Video Culture in Berlin (Archive Books, 2020), Bitter Things - Narratives and Memories of Transnational Families (Archive Books, 2018). He has worked as a juror and consultant for the Berlinale Forum, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and the DAAD, among others. He is co-founder and artistic director of bi‘bak and Sinema Transtopia in Berlin.