addendum to the last post

Something I forgot to mention in my post from yesterday, is that in the award speech for the movie Fortuna (if memory serves me correctly), Martin Luther King, Jr. was quoted.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

I wanted to actually make two comments about this.

1. I’m amazed at the global influence MLK, Jr. has made. This is a quote at a German film festival by a Swiss director. There’s also a street named after him (much like happens in the US) in the small Baltic city of Rostock, and that’s only where I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’m sure there are others. etcetera
2. This is a pretty great quote… even if it’s not quite clear when MLK, Jr. said it (probably in one of his sermons), it makes sense to share these words in times of hate and intolerance- which, if my history serves me correctly, has been forever. Here, it was said in reference to the treatment of the refugees in Europe, the fear they face coming and staying surrounded by people who may not want them there, and the way their lives are changed. If we could just have more sympathy for what these people go through, seeking out safety, higher quality of life, etc. (which is what all of us would hope for ourselves), I think we could deal with the situation with a lot less pain.

There’s more to be said about the relationship between light and love. Both are positively connotative, imbued with hope and goodwill. That’s not to say that love cannot be selfish, and light is always the goal. Pure light rarely exists and most of the world is a series of dark flecked light. However, to sit there in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt and hear these words, first in German translation, then in the English original, was pretty great.

The director of the Berlinale Generation section liked the quote so much that she read it at the end of the ceremony again, before the two winning movies were shown. How I could forget it when writing my post yesterday, I don’t know. But I remember now.

It’s moments and memories like these that stay with one.

Also, finally, the Berlinale Generation awards are nothing like the Oscars- too much pomp, ego, and money is part of the latter’s choices and ceremony.