A white couple in East-Berlin (GDR) in the 1960s tell their Black child that its skin colour is pure coincidence and of no significance. This is also what the girl prefers to believe, until she accidentally discovers the truth as a teenager.

Now in the role of film-maker and protagonist, Ines Johnson-Spain reconstructs her family history in the film BECOMING BLACK. In emotional and open conversations with her stepfather, the atmosphere of silence and repression gets impressively palpable.

While exploring the taboo that overshadowed her entire upbringing, the film-maker reveals structural racism in the GDR.

Becoming Black | A Film by Ines Johnson-Spain