“It takes time to understand their soul”: The humanity of refuge and transnational solidarity in Frieder Schlaich’s Otomo (1999)

Abstract

This article interrogates a general tendency in migration film studies to read vulnerable migrant characters vis-à-vis national and transnational power hierarchies. It analyzes Frieder Schlaich’s 1999 film Otomo, which reconstructs the story of a Cameroonian asylum seeker in Germany, to show that (re)centering the refugee character and de-emphasizing national parameters of citizenship and belonging reveal subtle personal complexities and crucial moments of solidarity among marginalized people. Through the lens of minor transnational modes of analysis, the article argues for a more mindful scholarly engagement with fictional migrant characters as members of transnational communities and political actors rather than faceless, nameless, and victimized on-screen bodies.