‘The Aesthetic of Diaspora in Moving Image Practice’ reflects on the representation of diaspora and double agency within the medium of moving image. Engaging with socio-cultural factors, the chapter considers the notion of the individual struggle to navigate through complex social relations and the diverse negotiations of agency within artistic practice. Focusing on Sohrab Shahid Saless and selected scenes from his film Time of Maturity (1976), it explores the notion of ‘in-betweenness’ in the Iranian–German filmmaker’s work. Shahid Saless’s aesthetic and stylistic approach, which masterfully takes the viewer from one uncomfortable scene to the next, is thus the central part of this chapter, but a parallel is drawn with Belgian film director Chantal Akerman’s work, as well as that of Romuald Karmakar: in particular, selected scenes from Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) and Karmakar’s Nightsongs (Die Nacht singt ihre Lieder, 2004) are analysed.

WEST BERLIN’S KREUZBERG: THE DISTRICT OF ‘IN-BETWEENNESS’

By way of background on Sohrab Shahid Saless and the time he spent in creative exile in Germany, it is important to note that Berlin was not historically a popular travel destination in Europe. In comparison to Paris or Rome, which attracted most of the elite or bourgeois travellers in search of the roots of classical or modern civilisation, Berlin did not have much to offer. In particular, Kreuzberg, the district Shahid Saless lived in, emerged from its post-World War Two history as one of the poorest quarters in West Berlin – until things started to change for the city as a whole (Hochscherf et al. 2013, 105–6).

The entry of many immigrants to Germany was based on bilateral agreements that the government of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (1949–63) signed with Italy, Greece and Spain, as well as Turkey and the former Yugoslavia, to encourage Gastarbeiter (guest-workers) to arrive to provide the unskilled labour (Wilke 2014, 191) that was needed in post-war Germany (Taras 2012, 169).

Berlin suddenly became an international meeting point not only for West and East Germany but for the whole world.