From Here is a hopeful story of four artists and activists based in Berlin and New York whose lives and futures hang in the balance of immigration and integration debates.
As politicians in the U.S. and Europe stoke fears of migrants to win elections and consolidate power, From Here offers a fresh and different perspective to the issues of immigration and belonging. The film is an intimate yet epic look at the stories of four children of immigrants: Tania, Miman, Sonny, and Akim. As each of them moves from their 20s into their 30s, they face major turning points in their lives: fighting for citizenship, starting families and finding room for creative expression.
Filmed over a decade in two of the world’s largest immigration cities, this sensitive, nuanced documentary captures human journeys as it seeks to redefine what it means to “belong” in societies that are increasingly hostile to immigrants.
Details coming soon!
Spore Initiative facilitates cultural projects at the intersection of climate justice, ecological regeneration, and education, in dialogue with earth protectors in the Global South and the Global North. The Spore House in Berlin is a platform for exchange, dialogue, and mutual learning.
What does (not) belonging mean from Berlin to Europe? What common struggles are needed for a Europe in which the right to have rights belongs to everyone? In the evening event, we will listen to stories of belonging, empowerment and migrant struggles for political participation and discuss how we can unite struggles from Berlin to Europe across borders and between actors. The evening will begin with a screening of the short film ‘Das Recht, Rechte zu haben’ by With Wings and Roots e.V. and RomaniPhen e.V., which shows the experiences of migrants, refugees, BPoC and Roma and Sinti in Germany who are fighting for equal rights and belonging. In a subsequent panel discussion, the guests will look at the European level, bring together struggles for belonging and political participation and discuss which alliances are needed to create real change and overcome systemic exclusions.
Doors will open at 5 pm and film will begin at 5:30 pm. The screening will be followed with a panel discussion with the film’s director, Christina Antonakos-Wallace, Legal Programs Manager and Policy Advisor with Seattle’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, Oksana Bilobran, and Washington New Americans Administrative Manager from OneAmerica, David Peña. Panel will be moderated by Jenifer Chao, Director of Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods.
Closed Captioning in English and Spanish will be provided for the film. Seattle Central Library is wheelchair accessible.
We call on you all to join us in a joint protest for the complete preservation of our memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe murdered under National Socialism! Our memorial is massively threatened by the planned construction of an S-Bahn line. This memorial commemorates the genocide of 1.5 million Roma and Sinti throughout Europe. For many of us descendants of the persecuted, it is a place of mourning for our dead without graves. It is a place of recognition of this crime and has a central function in the culture of remembrance, especially in view of the resurgence of racism in Germany.
The keynote lecture offers an introduction to multimedia educational materials we have developed on the topics of migration, racism and belonging. The material presented includes moving images (films and video clips), pedagogical and didactic handouts and a historical transatlantic (D/USA) timeline.
Speakers:
Niloufar Shabanpour is a member of With Wings and Roots e.V. and professionally working as a consultant for education at the Protestant School Foundation in Central Germany St. Johannes in the school development department.
Marc Holland-Cunz is a trained social scientist and has worked in research and publication projects on topics such as protection against discrimination in schools, organizational development and school social work.
Our movements for belonging cannot succeed without addressing migration. It raises fundamental questions about borders, and the very containers around which we organize identities and rights. In 2024, half the world’s population will vote in major elections, and migration will be one of the central wedge issues. What might be possible if we take a more integrated and global approach to the question of migration? What resources are needed to strengthen our movements to work together? Can we share tactics, resources and visions for belonging beyond the nation-state? What kind of global network would support and energize us in this challenging time? With Miriam Juan-Torres (Othering and Belonging Institute), Usha Srinivasan (Mosaic America), Christina Antonakos-Wallace (Building Belonging/With Wings and Roots)
School of Transnational Organizing
Summer School 2024 – »The Lost Art of Organizing Solidarity«
Workshop C: Fighting for Belonging – How to Tell Stories and Build Campaigns for Migrant Justice Shifting the Political Landscape
Sujin J. Noël & Masha Burina (Leading Change Network) meet Christina Antonakos-Wallace, Olga Gerstenberger, Miman Jasarovski & Tania Mattos (With Wings & Roots).
Explore the power of storytelling in activism: Understand how narratives build individual and collective power and learn to tell compelling stories of Self, Us, and Now to counter anti-migrant rhetoric and build movements for belonging. We will share frameworks from the Leading Change Network and experiences With Wings and Roots in cultural organizing, filmmaking and campaigns for migrant and racial justice. Through presentations, group discussions, and practical exercises, discover storytelling techniques that foster alliances and build power in this urgent political moment.
The Leading Change Network (LCN) is a membership-based organization that focuses on supporting and building leadership capacity for effective community organizing through advancing the framework, giving access to knowledge, coaching campaigns, workshops, support seeding hubs globally, and by convening a community of practice. Members are organizations, leaders, organizers, researchers, educators, practitioners and institutions from 75 different countries who consolidate, grow and sustain our people power for a more just, democratic, and sustainable world.
With Wings and Roots is a multidisciplinary initiative of media makers, activists, scholars, educators, and cultural organizers working in the US and Europe. We work together to reframe migration debates and advocate for just migration policies through storytelling, community organizing, and creative interventions.
6pm | screening + live score
8pm | discussion with director/producer Christina Antonakos-Wallace + composer Alex Guy
From Here is a hopeful story of four artists and activists based in Berlin and New York whose lives and futures hang in the balance of immigration and integration debates.
As politicians in the U.S. and Europe stoke fears of migrants to win elections and consolidate power, From Here offers a fresh and different perspective to the issues of immigration and belonging. The film is an intimate yet epic look at the stories of four children of immigrants: Tania, Miman, Sonny, and Akim. As each of them moves from their 20s into their 30s, they face major turning points in their lives: fighting for citizenship, starting families and finding room for creative expression.
Filmed over a decade in two of the world’s largest immigration cities, this sensitive, nuanced documentary captures human journeys as it seeks to redefine what it means to “belong” in societies that are increasingly hostile to immigrants.
6pm | doors
6:30pm | screening + live score
8pm | discussion with director/producer Christina Antonakos-Wallace + composer Alex Guy
8:30pm | reception with refreshments
From Here is a hopeful story of four artists and activists based in Berlin and New York whose lives and futures hang in the balance of immigration and integration debates.
As politicians in the U.S. and Europe stoke fears of migrants to win elections and consolidate power, From Here offers a fresh and different perspective to the issues of immigration and belonging. The film is an intimate yet epic look at the stories of four children of immigrants: Tania, Miman, Sonny, and Akim. As each of them moves from their 20s into their 30s, they face major turning points in their lives: fighting for citizenship, starting families and finding room for creative expression.
Filmed over a decade in two of the world’s largest immigration cities, this sensitive, nuanced documentary captures human journeys as it seeks to redefine what it means to “belong” in societies that are increasingly hostile to immigrants.
The keynote lecture offers an introduction to multimedia educational materials we have developed on the topics of migration, racism and belonging. The material presented includes moving images (films and video clips), pedagogical and didactic handouts and a historical transatlantic (D/USA) timeline.
Speakers:
Olga Gerstenberger is a political scientist, impact producer of FROM HERE and managing director of With Wings and Roots e.V. She holds a DAAD-funded Master’s degree in “Ideology and Discourse Analysis” from the University of Essex and was a research assistant at the Alice Salomon Hochschule. She has researched and taught on racism, migration and social movements.
Niloufar Shabanpour is a member of With Wings and Roots e.V. and professionally working as a consultant for education at the Protestant School Foundation in Central Germany St. Johannes in the school development department. She is trained secondary school teacher (English and philosophy/ethics) with experience at different types and forms of schools in various federal states.
The short film (30 min.) is in German and English spoken language with English and German subtitles.
“Voting is not a privilege – it’s a right” says Sanaz Azimipour, who has been active with “Nicht ohne uns 14%” for years. Shortly before the European elections on June 9, we are focusing on opportunities for co-determination: Who can make a difference and have an indirect say in how policy is shaped in the coming years and how inclusive it will be?
There are currently over 12 million people living in Germany without German citizenship. Although they were born here, 1.5 million of them do not have a German passport. People without German citizenship are not protected from deportation, are not allowed to vote or stand as candidates in federal elections and have no access to civil servant status. If they organize themselves, they are subject to the rules for “foreigners’ associations”. In the asylum procedure, the right to participate is restricted even further. For example, people only have a limited right to freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, freedom to choose where to live and work. What does it mean to be stateless, to live with a tolerated stay permit or to have a nationality other than German? What struggles have migrants, BPoC, Sinti & Roma waged and are currently waging for equal rights?
The film encourages people to think about the meaning of citizenship and to campaign for a society in which the right to rights applies to everyone without restriction. It was produced as part of the “Pass(t) uns allen” campaign by With Wings and Roots e.V. and RomaniPhen e.V.
Followed by a panel discussion with:
Fatima Hartmann was formerly editor of the Romani magazine Jek Chib. In the 1990s, she was involved in Rom e.V. She was part of the protest movement for the right of Roma to stay and co-organized a large Roma women’s conference.
Miman Jasarovski became part of the national and international Roma civil rights movement in the mid-1990s. Today, he works for and with With Wings and Roots e.V. on various anti-racist levels. With the alliance “Pass(t) uns allen”, he demands, among other things, birthright German citizenship for all children born in Germany and voting rights for all.
Elizaveta Khan aka Lisa (she/her) is a social worker and social pedagogue. She is the founder and managing director of Integrationshaus e.V. and a member of the Integration Council of the City of Cologne.
Prof. Dr. Mihir Nayak is a professor of tourism management. He had to wait 19 years for his DE/EU citizenship and is a candidate for the upcoming European elections with a focus on labor migration/electoral law.
Kutlu Yurtseven is co-founder of the initiative “Keupstraße is everywhere”, co-organizer of the tribunal “NSU-Komplex Auflösen” and part of the initiative “Herkesin Meydanı – Platz für alle”. He raises his voice on stage with Turkish, German, Italian and English rap and in the play “The Gap”. He is also active in youth work.
Moderation: Olga Gerstenberger is a political scientist, impact producer of FROM HERE and managing director of With Wings and Roots e.V. She has researched and taught on racism, migration, movement and resistance history and is active in various political contexts.
As part of the opening of our exhibition: History in Motion:
Installation and Event Series on Migration, Rights and Struggles for Belonging, we will be showing the short film “The Right to Have Rights” on May 8, 2024 at 7 p.m., followed by a panel discussion.
There are currently over 12 million people living in Germany without German citizenship. Although they were born here, 1.5 million of them do not have a German passport. People without German citizenship are not protected from deportation, are not allowed to vote or stand as candidates in federal elections and have no access to civil servant status. If they organize themselves, they are subject to the rules for “foreigners’ associations”. In the asylum procedure, the right to participate is restricted even further. For example, people only have a limited right to freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, freedom to choose where to live and work. What does it mean to be stateless, to live with a tolerated stay permit or to have a nationality other than German? What struggles have migrants, BPoC, Sint*izze & Rom*nja waged and are currently waging for equal rights?
The film encourages us to think about the meaning of citizenship and to campaign for a society in which the right to rights applies to everyone without restriction. It was produced as part of the “Pass(t) uns allen” campaign by With Wings and Roots e.V. and RomaniPhen e.V.
In cooperation with the SWANE Café, we are showing our installation and series of events on migration, rights and belonging from May 8 to December 15, 2024.
The focus is on our timeline on migration, rights and belonging as well as our video-based story collection. Visitors can explore how political and cultural events over the past centuries have shaped our understanding of migration, rights and belonging in Germany. At the same time, young people share their very personal perspectives on migration, racism and belonging in short clips from over 50 video interviews. The exhibition is accompanied by a monthly supporting program with discussion rounds, concerts and spoken word as well as workshops for young people and adults.
The installation and series of events invites visitors to get to know various forms of migrant self-organization and resistant movements and to share their own experiences and stories.
The exhibition will open on 8 May 2024 at 7 pm with a screening of the short film “The Right to Have Rights” followed by a panel discussion with:
Miman Jasarovski became part of the national and international Roma civil rights movement in the mid-noughties. Today, he works for and with With Wings and Roots e.V. on various anti-racist levels. With the alliance “Pass(t) uns allen”, for example, he is calling for birthright German citizenship for all children born in Germany and voting rights for all.
Phyllis Quartey is an activist, poet and educational speaker and an outstanding voice in the N-Wort Stoppen and Decolonize-Wuppertal initiatives. Through her involvement in various workshops and seminars on topics such as anti-racism, allyship, colonialism and empowerment, she shapes the discussion and provides important impetus.
Kenan Emini is Chairman of Roma Center e.V. He is founder and head of the Roma Anti-Discrimination Network since 2015, co-founder and deputy chairman of the Federal Roma Association, the umbrella organization of migrant Roma in Germany. Among other things, he has conducted many research trips on the situation of deported Roma in Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia.
Moderation:
Meieli Borowsky-Islam is a columnist and author for the Africa magazine LoNam and writes mainly about everyday racism, intersectional discrimination and colonialism in the field of diaspora. She is an educational consultant and co-founder of Decolonize Wuppertal.
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In this impulse lecture, teachers will learn about multimedia educational materials and didactic principles for addressing racism against Sinti and Roma in the classroom with the help of the method manual “Mimans Story”.
Despite the progress made in recognizing diversity and combating prejudice, discrimination against this ethnic minority of Sinti and Roma remains a sad reality that is often overlooked or trivialized in the school context. Based on the handout “Miman’s Story”, which was developed by With Wings and Roots and RomaniPhen, and the multimedia educational material on racism against Roma and Sinti, approaches for lessons and schools are presented here.
⌚️ Tuesday, April 09, 2024 | 16:00 – 18:00
In the context of this year’s Roma Power Month, we are offering a workshop with Miman Jasarovski.
Miman Jasarovski is a Roma himself, social worker, father, member of “Pass(t) uns allen” – Alliance for fair citizenship, naturalization and voting rights in Germany” and a board member of “With Wings and Roots” and has been giving workshops on racism against Roma and Sinti.
When: April 04 from 2-5 p.m. and April 05 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Nachbarschaftshaus am Körnerpark, Schierkerstr. 53, 12051 Berlin (conference room)
Target group: Multipliers in the educational and social sector (daycare centers, schools, educational institutions, neighborhood houses)
The workshop is an offer for multipliers who work in the social and educational sector. Above all, we want to create a space where everyone can feel safe. The workshop is aimed at both people who are affected by racism and those who are not affected.
Content of the workshop:
Discrimination, expulsion and persecution of Roma and Sinti did not begin under National Socialism, but has a long historical tradition.
The workshop aims to use historical revision to create an understanding of one’s own discrimination and one’s own responsibility as a non-affected person, and to give initial thoughts on how to break through this.
As there can only be a limited number of participants, please register briefly by email with a short description of yourself to: mitreden@nbh-neukoelln.de
An event in cooperation with With Wings and Roots e.V. and Mitreden in Neukölln.
Screening of FROM HERE and discussion with Christina Antonakos-Wallace (Director of FROM HERE), Miman Jasarovski (Activist and Protagonist of FROM HERE), moderated by Elisa Calzolari (MigraNetz Thüringen).
Screening of FROM HERE followed by discussion with Christina Antonakos-Wallace (Director), Miman Jasarovski (Aktivist and Protagonist), Gjulner Sejdi (1. Chairperson of Romano Sumnal e.V.), moderated by Petra Čagalj Sejdi (Romano Sumnal e.V.).
Screening of FROM HERE followed by discussion with Christina Antonakos-Wallace (Director), Miman Jasarovski (Aktivist and Protagonist) und Canan Turan (Creative Producer), moderated by Koray Yilmaz-Günay (Co-Director of The Migration Council Berlin)
Screening of FROM HERE followed by talk with Emily Ivie Winkelsträter, Jessica Rehrmann und Thivitha Edwin (Filmmakers of „Create. Empowerment through stories, art and exchange“), Christina Antonakos-Wallace (Director of FROM HERE) and Miman Jasarovski (Activist and Protagonist of FROM HERE), moderated by Elizaveta Khan, Director of Integrationshaus e.V.
FROM HERE will finally have it’s homecoming to Berlin. The festival will host both two socially distanced screenings in person with live q&a’s, and limited digital tickets online as part their amazing program.
![From Here Screening, Local Sightings Film Festival [Online]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.withwingsandroots.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F06%2Flsff-2020_900x900.jpeg&w=1200&q=75)
From Here will screen as one of twelve features by Pacific Northwest Filmmakers, at this beloved Seattle Festival.
Let’s Reimagine Belonging conversations cover everything from immigration, identity, art as activism, racial justice, and more, always coming back to the intersections. We’ll engage with new voices, leaders, emerging ideas, and hear about how they are reimagining belonging.
This first conversation is featuring one of the protagonists from the film, Tania Mattos, and Karen Maniraho, our associate producer who runs our Twitter account.
Q&A with filmmaker Christina Antonakos-Wallace, HRW’s US Program Senior Researcher Grace Meng, and film participants Sonny Singh & Tania Mattos discussing immigration in the US.
How are documentary filmmakers coping with cancellation of film festivals and loss of live in-person venues? Are online premieres a viable alternative?
Join us for an online conversation with local director Christina Antonakos-Wallace (FROM HERE) and NY-based co-producer Theresa Navarro (American Documentary-POV). They will share what they are learning since the cancellation of their world-premiere at the London Human Rights Watch Film Festival, the impact of the pandemic on their own distribution and the documentary film industry more generally. How are they strategizing a way forward?
