Marina Landia (Georgia/UK)
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Video title:
New Samples
2006, 4:20
The mother tongue is thought to be a base of thinking for every person. It’s an essential part of his or her mental structure. I use the word “mama” – probably the first word for most people – as a symbol of their mental structure.
During a period of one year I asked people of different origins living in Germany and Austria about their mother tongue. I did this in public places like trains, buses, coffee shops or simply on the street. Without having any special rules for choosing persons, I simply tried to ask as many as possible. Some of these persons became protagonists of my video. I filmed each of them while they kept pronouncing single word in their mother tongue for several minutes – the word ‘mama’.
Inhabitants of many different origins (like me) are typical for big European metropolises. Having their roots in remote territories and often bringing different concepts of culture and social behaviour, they change their new living environment, shifting its parameters and reshaping its public space.
This video participates in
CologneOFF IV – Here We Are!
4th edittion of Cologne Online Film Festival 2008
Mother program