Photo by Juandisalinas/Pixabay - copyright-free

interaction Leipzig: a chance to connect creatively

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The non-profit interaction Leipzig creates a range of cultural and educational activities to foster, as its name states, interaction between people living in our city. They bring recent migrants, including refugees, and those who have been here longer – internationals and Germans – closer together in sharing ideas, knowledge, creativity, and fun.

They even have a digital platform to guide you through the little Leipzig urban jungle, called Afeefa.

Afeefa Leipzig - mobile view
Afeefa Leipzig – mobile view, photo © interaction Leipzig e.V.

I really benefitted from interaction Leipzig when I was going through a period of burnout with LeipGlo

I needed something mentally stimulating that had nothing to do with this website, and so I signed up for a free filmmaking workshop interaction Leipzig was offering at the time. For multiple weeks. It was incredible. Two experienced Brazilian filmmakers based in Germany, Elissa de Brito and Pedro Risse, happened to be at the helm. I knew no one in the group of students but somehow, like magic, we connected around a theme to storyboard and shoot and edit and it was exactly what I needed.

Under Elissa and Pedro’s stellar instruction and patience, and with the professional equipment interaction Leipzig lent us, our amateur film crew of Latin Americans and Europeans set out to convey Venezuelan refugees’ stories. This is a group some of our own friends came from and which we felt got too little attention. 

Within weeks, we managed to interview in person three Venezuelan refugees living in Leipzig: a doctor, a musician, and a student. We also got insights from a Venezuelan scholar locally and a government employee in Caracas. Our multilingual filmmaking group happened to include talented camera and sound people, editors, translators, producers, researchers, a reporter, and a director to boot. Together we produced a bilingual documentary – Spanish and German – complete with subtitles and an original “soundtrack” our interviewees provided. 

We were delighted to be able to bring these Venezuelans’ quite distinct voices and trajectories to a local and international audience. 

interaction Leipzig set up a launch event for the documentary some months ago in Leipzig and then posted it online so that a wider public could access it. You can watch below the short film we made, free of charge:

You can say hi to the folks at interaction Leipzig at their winter party 5pm Friday, January 27th, at Arno-Nitzsche-Straße 37. Finally the pandemic has let up and is allowing the community to meet again. I hope you can also find kindred spirits and stimulating activities from among their offers. Check out the flyer below: 

For more information about interaction Leipzig, visit their website – with descriptions available in German, English and Arabic. 

A Global Studies doctoral degree holder and former newspaper reporter, avid eater, pseudo-philosopher and poet, occasion-propelled singer, semi-professional socializer, movie addict, Brazilian-American nomad. In this space, she will share some of her experiences and (mis)adventures regarding various topics, with special attention to social issues.

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