Becoming Black

A white couple in the GDR of the 1960s tells their black daughter that her skin color is a coincidence. It is only when she is a teenager that she accidentally discovers the truth. Many years earlier, a group of Africans came to the GDR to study. Sigrid from Leipzig and Lucien from Togo fall in love. But Sigrid is married and has a son. When she becomes pregnant by Lucien, the family initially breaks up. But later they dare to make a new start. The film follows the amazing strategies the couple develops in their struggle for “normality” after the birth of the black child from the perspective of the child, now long grown up, director Ines Johnson-Spain.

BECOMING BLACK is an intimate portrait of a difficult childhood in a culture of silence and denial. The film illustrates what happens when the non-fitting suddenly becomes visible in a standardized environment. In search of her biological father, the director also sets off on a trip to Africa, where she meets her large Togolese family. Thus, the film evolves into a reflection on belonging, social norms, family concepts, and systemic racism.