Zahlvaterschaft (Fatherland) 2021

Gerson Liebl, grandson of a German colonial officer from Togo, has been fighting to get German citizenship and residency permission for the last 30 years. As a last-ditch effort, he resorts to a hunger strike. Images of his unwavering persistence in front of the Rotes Rathaus in Berlin are accompanied on the soundtrack by statements, testimonies, clauses from laws, legal texts, political positions, and prevarications—then and now.

To watch all short films in the Family Matters strand together, click here.