German Critics Name ‘Becoming Black’ Best German Documentary 2020 Nomination

Two days ago, very good news reached me that the documentary for which I worked as the dramaturgical advisor, meaning, story and rough-cut adviser and on which I have worked very intensely with the director, ‘Becoming Black’ has been nominated as Best German documentary 2020 by the German critics, and only 5 have been nominated…. I am very proud of the director Ines Johnson-Spain and also a bit proud of my contribution. — Claudia Landsberger

This a very interesting story set in Eastern Germany starting in the 60s, about a Black woman trying to figure out her identity. Her two German (white) parents never really discussed it with her. In those days and with that family, it was better just to sweep it under the rug. But of course, in due time she wanted to know how she came to be.

When she first discovered her father was an African, it was still a secret. It affected her relationship with her parents of course, and she decided (at around age 10) that she would never tell them anything again that was important to her. In this documentary she discusses this with her father and family friends and relatives, including her older brother, and she goes to Africa to meet her father’s, and hence her own, family.