“Do you accept?”
Premiere of anthropological film about Indian immigrants in South Africa
The new documentary “Kabul kiya? Do you accept?” about Indian migrants in South Africa, filmed by anthropologists from the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics”, will be shown for the first time in Münster on 20 April. The anthropological film focuses on the love affair of a young couple with Indian roots in Johannesburg, South Africa. Their story shows how “foreign” migrants form social communities on the basis of a common origin and language, and how they simultaneously enter the “indigenous” class society in South Africa by way of marriage. Anthropologists Prof. Dr Helene Basu and Dr Julia Koch as well as filmmaker Andreas Samland accompanied the couple with the camera for some time. The film will premiere on Friday, 20 April, at 7 pm at the Cinema Filmtheater in Warendorfer Straße 45, Münster. A discussion with the filmmakers will follow in the event room “neben*an” at 9 pm. Admission is 3 euros.
Taking place in Johannesburg, the film tells the story of Hussein, a young Indian immigrant from Gujarat who has fallen in love with Aqueela, a young woman of Indian descent. Her ancestors had emigrated to South Africa several generations ago. The two want to get married, but have to overcome strong opposition from Aqueela’s family. While both belong to Muslim communities, Hussein comes from an Indian village, speaking only rudimentary English, and Aqueela, who hardly knows the Indian language of her grandparents, has grown up in South Africa in a wealthy English-speaking family. The film provides insights into the everyday life of Muslim immigrants from Gujarat in Western India after the end of apartheid in South Africa. (asc/vvm)