Thematicizing Race in Black German Film
How »Ivie wie Ivie« Navigates Friendship, Family, and Racism
Ivie’s nickname »Schoko« (Brownie) is an example of how the film Ivie wie Ivie (2021) depicts anti-Black racism in a German context. In the movie, the characters gain an awareness for how they are affected by racism and their own racist behavior, respectively. It is a highly accessible source to teach and learn about everyday racism. However, it cannot only be reduced to its educational qualities.
By Amani Fabian Gerhardus and Oona Caitlin Mould
From receiving a job rejection purely based on your last name, to being looked down upon or being attacked on the street, racism remains present in our modern-day society. Instances like these all occur in Ivie’s life. She is the protagonist of the film Ivie wie Ivie, written and directed by Sarah Blaßkiewitz. Released in 2021, the film tells the story of a young Afro-German woman named Ivie, who dreams of becoming a secondary school teacher in Leipzig, touching on several themes, such as racism, family as well as friendshipm. Ivie wie Ivie may serve as an example of why media such as literature, art and film that discuss racism as both an everyday issue and a structural problem are so vital to our society.
These types of media were discussed in the seminar »Black German Studies: Transatlantic Perspectives« during the winter semester 2022/23 at the University of Münster. The seminar started off by creating a shared level of understanding through the texts Farbe bekennen (1986) edited by May Ayim, Katharina Oguntoye and Dagmar Schultz as well as Alice Hasters’ Was weiße Menschen nicht über Rassismus hören wollen, aber wissen sollten (2019), among others. Both thematicize Afro-Germans’ experiences, including aspects such as everyday racism as well as systematic discrimination in a predominantly white society. Instances of othering that are documented and reflected on in these texts set a framework for how issues of anti-Black racism and discrimination are portrayed in German media, such as Ivie wie Ivie. A shared viewing of the film followed by a discussion between the director, Sarah Blaßkiewitz, and film studies scholar Felipe Espinoza Garrido took place in Münster on December 4, 2022.
Ivie’s life is thrown into chaos when her previously unknown half-sister, Naomi, visits her and informs her that their father has passed away. However, Ivie’s only memory of her and her father is a picture, therefore she has no interest in going to the funeral in Senegal. This realization sets off a chain reaction: She always believed that she and her mom had a very honest relationship. Now, she grows aware of the fact that they hardly ever talked about Ivie’s father. Her awakened interest in her family history is closely tied to her growing frustration with the racism she has presumably always experienced, yet as the film shows, had not always given much thought to.
Naomi’s arrival causes Ivie to think about the racism she encounters in different areas of her life. One notable example is during her job interviews at various secondary schools in Leipzig. The schools focus on her African background and are not interested in her teaching skills. This leads to Ivie becoming aware of the fact that racist thinking still exists in today’s society. An example of her and her friends’ unawareness is her nickname ›Schoko‹ (Brownie). This nickname is used on a daily basis, however when Naomi finds out about it, she immediately confronts Ivie’s friends and explains why it is racist and inappropriate.
The combination of both incidents leads to the key scene of the film. The friend group meets up for a game night. Ivie, her date, and her friends are having a good time and Ivie seems to enjoy her friends’ company after another bad job interview. This suddenly changes when she is handing out a chocolate dessert and one of her friends jokes: »Schoko von Schoki« (chocolate from Brownie). At first, nobody shows any reaction to this comment, but it triggers Ivie. She confronts her friends, claiming that this is unacceptable. However, they tell her to stop being angry about it and to move on. Ivie cannot understand the need of others to compare her skin color to objects. In response, she spreads the dessert all over her face and asks her friends if anyone wants to lick it off. Her date tries to deescalate the situation by licking the chocolate of her face and suggesting that they go home. After the two have left, one of Ivie’s closest friends attempts to explain her behavior by mentioning that her father has died.
This can be seen as a key scene in the film as Ivie now not only acknowledges positive racism, but also calls it out in her daily life. Naomi’s already mentioned irritation with the name and her explanation catches on: the nickname ›Schoko‹ is a form of positive racism, as it reduces her to her skin color. Moreover, Ivie wears Naomi’s Senegalese dress to the game night, an indication of Naomi’s positive influence on her identification with her Senegalese background and renegotiation of her identity as a Black German woman. This confrontation is a key moment for Ivie, as it shows her awareness for positive racism changing her perception of her friends. At the same time, although they do not immediately recognize the positive racism of their actions, the film shows Ivie’s friends question their previous perceptions and beliefs.
During the conversation following the film, Felipe Espinoza Garrido posed a question about the inspiration behind this scene, asking whether it can be seen within the cultural history of Black artists appropriating blackface and minstrel traditions in order to show the constructed-ness of race. In response, Sarah Blaßkiewitz explained that the idea for the scene draws in part on a film she liked as a child, namely Corrina, Corrina (1994), directed by Jessie Nelson. Corrina, Corrina is about a young girl Molly, whose mother recently passed away. Molly forms a special bond with her family’s African American maid Corrina, and through her, gets to know and appreciate African American culture.
Blaßkiewitz elaborated on a particular scene that occurs in Corinna, Corinna, which resembles the dessert scene in Ivie wie Ivie, but is more playful and childish in comparison. It portrays a young white girl asking her young Black friend if she tastes like chocolate, to which she asks whether she tastes like vanilla. They both lick each other’s cheeks and realize that this is not the case and have a laugh about it. While in Corrina, Corrina both children do not perceive this negatively, in Ivie wie Ivie, the protagonist is hurt. The difference between the two scenes is quite striking and can be explained easily, as in Corrina, Corrina two young girls are innocently getting to know each other, whereas in Ivie wie Ivie, the characters are all adults and a certain level of knowledge as well as awareness is to be expected from them. Therefore, their behavior can be considered inappropriate and hurtful.
A further interesting point that came up during the interview was the process of choosing a fitting title. Initially, Sarah Blaßkiewitz intended to name the film ›Schoko.‹ However, throughout the process of writing and creating the film, she decided to choose a different name: Ivie wie Ivie. The new title seems to have a more open objective and places more emphasis on Ivie as an individual, with several layers to her personality that are revealed throughout the film.
Ivie wie Ivie undeniably holds the capacity to educate certain audiences on racism. The medium of film in general addresses a broad audience and is especially attractive to younger audiences. Choosing to watch films such as Ivie wie Ivie in a classroom or university context enables new understandings and creates a shared knowledge base. However, it would be wrong to label it as an ›educational film about racism‹. As Sarah Blaßkiewitz rightfully states: The movie is a portrayal of everyday life. She reflects that the film is a puzzle of scenes and of Ivie’s emotions and experiences, yet, she leaves it open to the audience how they perceive certain scenes and how they interpret the film. Therefore, the takeaway can vary depending on which focus the viewer sets. Nevertheless, Blaßkiewitz wishes that the discussion would not only focus on racism but also on topics such as patchwork families, sexuality, and children of divorced parents when talking about the film. Ivie wie Ivie manages to address these multiple themes in an engaging and accessible way. It has the capability to initiate a great number of discussions in both classroom contexts and beyond.
Amani Fabian Gerhardus and Oona Caitlin Mould both study English and American Studies as well as Sport and Physical Education as Bachelor students at the University of Münster. Both are planning on becoming secondary school teachers.
