Movie Nights - Brave New You
Within the international “Brave New You“ project locally carried out by Culture Goes Europe e.V. a whole month full of events themed #ComeTogether was organized. The focus was put on talking about and battling stereotypes, hate speech and racism.
During the month of May we hosted two movie and discussion nights, both via Zoom due to the current Corona situation. The documentaries (all available on YouTube) were watched jointly via SyncTube.
1. “Let's Talk About Racism“ - Movie & Discussion
For the first event we chose to watch “Wie rassistisch bist du? - Das Experiment Teil 1&2“ (engl.: How racist are you? - The Experiment Part 1&2) showing German people from different generations and backgrounds answering questions and reflecting upon their own behavior, stereotypical thinking and privileges. The questions, answers, experiences, ideas and feelings helped our participants and us to reflect upon our own actions and understanding of everyday racism.
Furthermore we got to talk about a local current racist assault which went viral and tried to develop a list of adequate responses to help victims and show courage in situations like these. During the event we were all able to raise more awareness for everyday racism on a personal level and started to gain a better understanding for stereotypes and our own privileges.
The discussion and exchange of ideas were held in German and English to include all participants in the talk.
https://www.facebook.com/CGEErfurt/photos/gm.207008897688601/4491147557579519
2. “Growing Up Rural vs. Growing Up Urban“ - Movie & Discussion
For our second movie and discussion night, which also represented the final event of our #ComeTogether theme month, we chose the documentary “RURALINK, a documentary about rural Youth in Europe“. It depicted the lives of young people from Germany, Spain as well as Greece who chose to stay in or return to the rural areas they grew up in. Both opportunities and challenges were outlined which lead to a discussion about our personal experiences with growing up and living in a rural area. A common narrative among the participants included growing up rural and later moving to a more urban area to study and work as better opportunities are promised. This led towards another problem the documentary picked up on: the stereotypical demonstration of rural living in the media. Rural regions are mostly shown and perceived as boring, ordinary or monotonous whereas urban areas are diverse and interesting.
Within our discussion personal issues like fewer career or personal development opportunities as well as engagement to enhance the situation for young people in rural areas were exchanged. Ideas and possible solutions for more visible and better accessible career options, funding and promotion programs for young entrepreneurs were also talked about. Finally, all participants shared their visions and hopes for the future regarding rural and urban living.
https://www.facebook.com/CGEErfurt/photos/a.1373944789299827/4549743841719890/
In conclusion we were able to conduct constructive and creative discussions through our movie nights leading to a valuable output and new ideas for personal engagement and courage within both fields.
