On May 13th 12.00 – 13.00, we are screening the short film “Republic of the Mind” with short presentation by Directors Jack Davis and Marcia C. Schenck (MSc 2009/10) and time for Q&A. Venue: African Studies Seminar Room, Bevington Road.

About 21.000 Mozambican labor migrants worked and were educated in East Germany on government contracts in various industries between 1979 and the early 1990s. It was Mozambican President Samora Machel's vision that these skilled laborers would contribute to the development of the young independent nation upon return home. With the civil war in Mozambique and the transition from socialism to capitalism in both countries history derailed this endeavor. Today, many workers live a marginalized life, still waiting to be useful, waiting for a job and waiting for a percentage of the wages that were transferred to the Mozambican government during the 1980s. “Republic of the Mind” examines the memories of and nostalgia for East Germany and the People’s Republic of Mozambique through the eyes of a prominent Madjerman in the year 2014. The story he tells about the fate of the former workers, today known as Madjerman, illustrates not only Mozambique’s failed socialist experiment but also the loss of idealism and nationalism in the years following the death of Samora Machel.