1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

After the Escape

November 23, 2017

They come from four continents and have one thing in common: They fled to a foreign nation to escape war, misery or persecution.

https://p.dw.com/p/2o7QP
KW 38 & 39 Dokumentationen & Koproduktionen Aeham Ahmad
Image: cmajor

Judith Kerr, Aeham Ahmad, Saša Stanišić, Nneka Egbuna and Antonio Skármeta come from four different continents and have one thing in common: They all fled war, hardship or persecution and started over in a new and unfamiliar place. Culture became their key to integration. Books, film and music helped pave the way.

Judith Kerr and her family (1920)
Judith Kerr and her family (1920)Image: Picture-alliance/akg-images

"Isn’t it wonderful to be a refugee?" ten-year-old Judith Kerr shouted across the rooftops of Paris in 1934. She and her family had fled Nazi Germany one year earlier. Escape was a great adventure for her and her parents didn’t let her sense their own fear. Today, the world-famous 94-year-old writer ("When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit") lives in London and says: "For me, England was my home at the end of the war. But it wasn’t for my parents. They never belonged anywhere." It’s a story typical of many refugee families.

The stories of the other protagonists show how integration can succeed and how it can fail. Syrian pianist Aeham Ahmad, German-Bosnian writer Saša Stanišić, Nigerian-German musician Nneka Egbuna and Chilean author and director Antonio Skármeta all came to Germany, which has been a refuge for many persecuted artists and artists since the end of the Second World War. The documentary lets them tell their stories - and shows how immigrants have enriched art, culture and society in Germany.


Broadcasting Hours:

DW (English)

SUN 17.12.2017 – 19:15 UTC
MON 18.12.2017 – 01:15 UTC
MON 18.12.2017 – 15:15 UTC
WED 20.12.2017 – 05:15 UTC
THU 28.12.2017 – 03:15 UTC
SUN 31.12.2017 – 09:15 UTC

Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8
San Francisco UTC -8 | Edmonton UTC -7 | New York UTC -5
Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 
London UTC +0 | Berlin UTC +1 | Moscow UTC +3


DW (Deutsch+)

MON 18.12.2017 – 09:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -8 | New York UTC -5 | Sao Paulo UTC -2