The Eyes in the Woods and the Taste in the Water
In Brazil, the inhabitants of Teewald, a German colony founded at the end of the 19th century, are still proud of their Germanic roots. Starting with the text of German-Turkish researcher Ilhami Paker, which uses irony to analyse different migratory movements, the film questions the complex process of constructing a national identity.
In Brazil, in the small colony of Teewald founded by German emigrants at the end of the 19th century, national identity is a complex question. Its inhabitants, after several generations, still speak the language of their ancestors, pass on German tales to their children, and celebrate, every year, a traditional festival to proudly announce how strong their Germanic roots are in this foreign land. But how do we define the identity to which we belong when our history is crossed by diverse origins? The Eyes in the Woods and the Taste in the Water articulate the question of identity by exploring the history of Teewald, its traditions, its cultural heritage but also its contradictions. The film moves between the memory of German immigration in Brazil and that of Turkey in Germany, summoned up in the film by the text of German-Turkish researcher Ilhami Paker. These two phenomena have marked the past of the two countries, and they describe the same movement: that of uprooting. The answer is found in the slippery limits of a borderland film.
Elena López Riera
