Films are My Passion
by Becky Tan

No other art form combines music, photography, theater, literature and art to a perfect whole as well as a film. Participants are people, but also animals, forests, oceans, weather, every facet of our environment as it is or even as it could be in another world, in another imagination. Films are sources of information – a way to learn new facts. I go into a cinema for entertainment, or sometimes, to escape from responsibilities – not expecting anything. Suddenly I have a pile of information floating in my mind – information which calls for more information which, obviously, sends me to the internet as soon as I step into my own small office and sit down in front of the computer. A perfect example of a film which opens horizons is ON HER SCHOULDERS about Nadia Murad. I had never heard of her before.

After viewing the film at the Filmfest Hamburg, I went home, looked her up, and found more details, for example her religious minority group Jesidi is called Yazidi in English. Germany was the first country to offer her a permanent home after her horrific experiences. The complete title of her new book is The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and my Fight against the Islamic State. In the meantime, she is engaged to Abid Shamdeen. Amal Clooney has a huge long list of cases she has represented in court, besides being married to George Clooney, as well as being the mother of twins. So: more facts to add to those from the film.

The next morning, after experiencing the film, I opened up my daily newspaper and on the front page was Nadia looking straight at me. She had just won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, together with Denis Mukwege. I was excited because I KNEW her. That is I knew about her, all because I had been to the movies the night before. Movies connect me to the world.