Edward Zorobah fled his native Ghana in 2017 and eventually became stranded in the small Sicilian town of Siculiana, where he more or less accidentally became the main character in the 2021 documentary "A Black Jesus", directed by Luca Lucchesi and produced by Wim Wenders.
In the small town on the southern border of Europe, people have venerated the statue of a black Jesus for many centuries. When the then 19-year-old Edward , a resident of the much-discussed refugee centre, asks to be allowed to carry the Jesus statue through the town together with the locals in the big annual procession, this request divides the community.
Together with the author Niclas Müller, we travelled to Siculiana to see what happened to Edward after the spotlights went out again.
Sarina coughs - that's the last we hear of her. The three-year-old girl wears pink muddy trousers and puts her little boots in the snow. Before that, Sarina was crying and whining - in Dari, a language spoken in Afghanistan. Her mother Fariba translated into English ‘My daughter says it's very cold.’ Then the family walks out of the frame with the sick child, towards the white hills and the grey sky, with a helicopter making noise in the distance.
The scenes are from the movie ‘The Game’. It begins and ends with Sarina, her two siblings and her parents as they try to reach Croatia and the EU in January 2021. The images show them setting off on their 57th attempt. The end remains open.
Paul Nkamani. He was the protagonist in the movie „Als Paul über das Meer kam“. In the summer of 2015, Nkamani was a newcomer to Berlin - having arrived after a four-and-a-half-year odyssey that took him from Cameroon via Nigeria, Niger, Algeria, Morocco, Spain and Paris to Germany. Filmmaker Jakob Preuss had met him in Morocco, then accompanied him in stages and made the documentary "Als Paul über das Meer kam"
Today, almost eight years later, Nkamani is standing in front of the shelf in his living room again. He is now 44, works in a nursing home for the elderly, has a residence permit that is initially limited until 2024 and lives in the basement. Harald Preuss has invited his lodger for coffee and cake, Jakob Preuss is also there. Everything looks as if the continuation of Nkamani's story is free of drama - but in truth, the film was followed by a rocky road here in Berlin, too, which has not yet been fully travelled.
Dirk Bruniecki is a photographer based in Munich, Germany. He has been fortunate to work for a broad range of editorial and commercial clients in the field of portrait and documentary photography.
With an innate ability to capture genuine moments, Dirk's work reflects his deep empathy and keen eye for detail. He approaches photography as a means of storytelling, delving into the intricacies of human experience and emotion. He holds a degree from Fachakademie für Photodesign, Munich.
In his spare time, Dirk finds solace in music, constantly exploring new sounds and artists. During the summer months, he can often be found by the lakeside, taking a dip in the water as the sun sets. Dirk lives in Munich with his girlfriend and his two sons. He loves to travel both for leisure and for work.
mail. hello@dirkbruniecki.de
phone. +49 179 5955213
instagram. @dirkbruniecki
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