The diverse origins and stories of Afro-German families are largely unknown and rarely visible as part of society. The history of the approximately 20,000 Mozambican workers in the GDR rarely features in the German cultural memory. Many children of former contract workers have only found their fathers in recent years—or are still searching today. Some are building new relationships with Mozambique and thus finding a second home. »The Homes We Carry« is the heartfelt debut of documentary filmmaker Brenda Akele Jorde. The film paints a portrait of a family torn apart by the vicissitudes of world history, spanning Germany, Mozambique, and South Africa. At the center is Sarah who travels to southern Africa with her daughter Luana to help her forge relationships she herself lacked as a child. Meanwhile, Sarah’s father Eulidio recalls the nearly forgotten history of Mozambican contract labor in the GDR.

As part of the Kunstfest programme, the exhibition → »See my Story. Copyright by Madgermanes« (21 August – 5 September) also explores contemporary perspectives from Mozambique on the experiences of work and life in the GDR. Complementing this, the city walk → »Traces of Contract Labour in Weimar« (24 and 30 August) traces the history of East German migration stories in Weimar and offers further insights into the themes of the exhibition.