Can't be silent
On Monday, Nov 25 at 8pm, Exberliner and realeyz.tv are teaming up with Berlin filmmaker Julia Oelkers to host a benefit edition of Exblicks for Kreuzberg’s Oranienplatz refugee protest camp. Come early for complimentary drinks and a buffet of baked goods! RSVP here.
Through Oelkers’ 2013 documentary Can’t Be Silent, viewers will be transported into an isolated world of barbed wires, compulsory travel permits and secret 2am deportations. Making the case for reform is an eclectic cast of gifted asylum seekers – Hosain, Jacques, Nuri, Revelino and Sam – who are temporarily unshackled from these camps as protest band The Refugees.
With roots in Afghanistan, Dagestan, Gambia, Iran and the Ivory Coast, they, alongside German-born beatboxer Olga, mesh rock, reggae, hip hop and soul with the language and traditional rhythms of their native homelands.
In 85 minutes, Oelkers tracks how music and performance allow her traumatised protagonists to reclaim agency over their identity and futures, and be recognised as more than ‘just’ refugees. Discussion with Oelkers and special guests to follow the screening, as well as complimentary drinks.
Exblicks: Can't be silent | Lichtblick Kino, Kastanienallee 77, Prenzlauer Berg, U-Bhf Senefelderplatz
Originally published in issue #121, November 2013