December 24, 1974: Saniye Çetinkaya and her five children arrive at Hanover Airport. Her husband Ihsan has been working at the cast-iron factory in Homberg since 1971, and the family longs to live together under one roof. Fifty years later, the sisters Perihan Yılmaz, Pakize Çetinkaya, Gülşen Çakır and Ayşe Çetinkaya tell their nephew how they gradually made a home for themselves. Photographs from the family archive lead back to the places where the Çetinkayas worked and made a home, first in Gensungen and later in Felsberg and Mittelhof, where they experienced suspicion, poverty and carefree days. Each sister has her own perspective on the family’s immigration history; for some of them, their arrival in Germany did not take the path they had hoped for. WO WIR WOHNTEN is a collaborative film by students from the Offenbach University of Art and Design and participants in the University of Kassel’s project “Raumkonzepte des Erinnerns”, which traces migration experiences through housing conditions and anchors them in specific locations. The film premieres as a double feature with Edith Marcello’s remarkable reportage BILLIGE HÄNDE, which combines experiences of “guest workers” into a critical tableau: a female worker, a trade unionist, a priest and the young Günter Wallraff provide insights into the immigration policy of the Federal Republic of Germany and its shocking continuities, which are, however, met by counteroffensive initiatives and wildcat strikes. Edith Marcello’s introductory question, “What do we know about them?”, echoes in WO WIR WOHNTEN.
Wo wir wohnten / Nerede yaşıyoruz / Germany 2026 / 20:00 min / German / English subtitles / Mustafa Çetinkaya (Interviews), Gizem Tonbak (Photography), Jamil Zegrer (Photography, Editing), Perihan Yılmaz, Pakize Çetinkaya, Gülşen Çakır und Ayşe Çetinkaya (Voices), Yasin Çetinkaya (Research), Lehrgebiet Film HfG Offenbach und Architektur Uni Kassel (Production und Advice).
Billige Hände / Edith Marcello / Federal Republic of Germany 1969 / 30:00 min / German, Turkish / Photography: Bernhard Weber / Editing: Gisela Grafe / Sound: Dietrich Köpke / Production: Hessischer Rundfunk