Gölge - Zukunft der Liebe
Sema Poyraz, Sophokles Adamidis | DE 1980 | 92 min
Sema Poyraz’s graduation film at the German Film and Television Academy provides an insight into the life of 18-year-old Gölge, the daughter of Turkish migrant workers, who grows up with her little sister in a cramped two-room apartment in Berlin-Kreuzberg in the 1970s.
Surrounded by an imposing father who remains rigidly attached to his conservative values, Gölge increasingly longs for freedom and her own self-fulfillment. Her mother supports her in this endeavor only to a limited extent. Her wish to become an actress after graduation is vehemently rejected by her father, who accuses female actors of promiscuity, which awakens Gölge’s resistance and makes her slip all the more into daydreams…
Sema Poyraz’s coming-of-age story in pre-Wende Kreuzberg in 1980 shows how early there were (feature) films that questioned the homogeneous film and television landscape and tried to depict the realities of life in post-migrant Germany – productions that to this day get far too little of the attention they deserve.
Director’s statement
„I am now often interviewed by doctoral students as the first filmmaker of Turkish origin. They all know the film better than I do. I haven’t seen it again since then. A few years ago I was asked if I wanted to make a film again. My answer was: That side of my life is over. I can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to anymore either.“ (Sema Poyraz in ERGÜN – TERZİYAN – POYRAZ, own translation)
Sema Poyraz
*1950 Turkey. Comes to Germany at the age of 11 and studies at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. Since 1980 freelance author, director and actress – among other things as a permanent ensemble member at the Maxim Gorki Theater. Her favorite role so far: a fascistoid German cleaning woman.
