Recently, Chancellor Friedrich Merz referred to an alleged ‘problem in the cityscape’ (‘Problem im Stadtbild’), once again migrantizing and stigmatizing many people in Germany. This right-wing populist statement, which he continues to stand by, has reignited the debate about who belongs to Germany—and who does not. 

But what does ‘cityscape’ (Stadtbild) actually mean? Can there ever be a definitive, unified image of a city? This controversy makes clear how little recognition there is of the fact that migration has shaped, formed, and enriched German cities for more than half a century. Migrant communities have profoundly transformed urban culture through their languages, their music, their films, and many other forms of cultural production, creating new images of cities. In the past, today, and hopefully in the future. 

In an audiovisual evening, filmmaker Cem Kaya (whose most recent work is 2022’s Love, Deutschmarks and Death) and HKW curator of Filmic Practices Can Sungu enter into conversation. Together they trace the cultural contributions of migrant workers and their children in Germany and share their ‘deep cuts’: filmic and musical excavations that highlight which spaces, communities, and alliances have emerged over time—or have always been there—and why they remain essential for a pluralistic society.