In the land of my children

22.05.2019 | A conversation with Darío Aguirre

In his early 20s, Darío Aguirre followed his girlfriend Stephanie from Ecuador to Germany to build a new life here as an artist. He probably never imagined that it would take almost two decades before he was finally naturalised. In his documentary "In the Land of My Children", he shows what it means to settle into a new culture - and how difficult it is to find your way through the jungle of German authorities.

Why did you choose the title "In the Land of My Children"?: The film was originally called "becoming German", but over time I found that too narrow, too superficial. It's not just about showing the peculiarities that go hand in hand with learning a new culture. It is also about the change as a person and growing up over a period of more than 20 years. But even though so much time has passed, there is still a gap between me and life here that I can't quite close. It's not my country, it's my children's country. It will be quite natural for them to grow up here in Hamburg.

Darío and Hamburg's former mayor Olaf Scholz in conversation

How did you come up with the idea for the drawings/animations?: There have been a few important events over the last few decades where I didn't have a camera with me - including the day I landed in Germany for the first time in my early 20s. I wanted to fill in these gaps with animated sequences, which was the plan from the start. The drawings are by Victor Orozco, who I got to know during my studies at the HFBK in Hamburg. His drawing style is very similar to mine, so it was a pretty good fit. However, in the course of my research I found so much archive material of mine that the proportion of animated sequences kept shrinking. Because with the archive material, you could really see how time passes, for example, I still had a lot of hair back then (laughs).

How did you get in touch with Helena Wittmann, who is behind the camera in many scenes of your film?: I also got to know Helena at the HFBK. It was our first collaboration - and it worked out really well. She captures the smallest nuances with her camera. The entire room has a meaning for her, I really liked that.

The film says that you no longer listen to Latin American music since you have been in Germany. At the end of the film, however, a song by the famous Cuban musician Silvio Rodríguez is played. Why is that?: In the film, we talk about strategies you develop to arrive in a new country. I was able to listen to salsa, for example. But there are still songs in the film that I actually avoided because of the emotional significance to my family in Ecuador. Silvio's song stands for freedom, trying things out and discovering the world. Values and ideas that are very important to me. So Silvio was perfect for the end of my film.

In many places, the film shows very nicely how bureaucratic things are in Germany. How difficult was it to finance your film?: Luckily, that went a lot faster than my naturalisation. After around a year, the funding was in place, which involved the Ministry of Culture and Media, NDR-ARTE and Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, among others.

An animation-style flashback - here at the airport on arrival in Germany

What do you particularly like about Hamburg? And what do you perhaps miss about your old home in Ecuador?: I think Hamburg is a very liberal city that is open to critical thought - education in this area is often encouraged as early as kindergarten. I like that. Believe it or not, there is more racism in Ecuador than here on the Elbe. Many people in Germany are sensitised to the topic due to their history. What I like about Ecuador, however, is that everything is a bit chaotic, but still works out in the end. Children should get the best of both worlds.

Your films deal with your history (Cesar's Grill, Five Ways to Dario). Now you've naturalised and arrived a bit. So what's next?: The personal reference will always be there in my films. My next project is about German and Ecuadorian history.