THE THOUGHTS OF OUR ANCESTORS

Germany, Tanzania, United Republic of 2024 — Directed by: Kokutekeleza Musebeni — 29 min — Production: University of Television and Film Munich (HFF) — Producer: Seren Şahin

In an Afrofuturistic future free from wars and discriminations, a young black woman receives memories from our present and must decide whether to inherit or erase the trauma of her ancestors. A hybrid film journey between an Afrofuturistic future and a documentary-style narrative of the director's life, as the child of a German and a Tanzanian.

In the Afrofuturistic documentary "THE THOUGHTS OF OUR ANCESTORS," Arazay is confronted in her dreams with the documentary reality of a black child. It is the year 1996, and the child's name is Koku. Arazay lives in a fictional future in the year 2230, which is free from wars, hierarchies, and resource scarcity. She tends to her plants when the first memory reaches her, causing her to faint. It is Koku who begins to tell her documentary story of growing up in Germany as a black girl and the stares she faced from an early age. She recounts her first visit as an adult to Tanzania, her father's homeland. Observations of this new home, which despite her blackness, feels foreign.

Now, Arazay has only six hours left to decide: Does she want to further connect with her ancestor Koku and preserve the memory, or erase them all? A hybrid journey between fiction and documentary begins.

Festivals & Awards

• Pan African Film Festival 2025 – Ja'Net DuBois Festival Award (Winner) – US
• Cleveland International Film Festival 2025 – FilmSlam – US
• DOK.fest Munich 2025 – DE
• Hofer Filmtage 2024 – DE
• Student Academy Awards 2024 – Semifinalist – US

Writer: Beatrix Rinke, Kokutekeleza Musebeni, Lara Milena Brose. Camera: Moritz Dehler, Kokutekeleza Musebeni. Sound: Andrew Mottl (Sounddesign). Editing: Lara Milena Brose. Music: Ralph Heidel. Production: Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München. Producer: Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München. International Sales: Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München.

Curated by

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