My Great-Uncle Was Here Before

Experimental Germany 2012 Espanol English subtitles 0:18:00

Against a background of contemporary Berlin images, I interview my great-uncle Jose Elias Awad who lived in the city in the 50’s, in the same area I live today. Secretary of the Colombian Communist Party at the time, Jose Elias left his wedding party to help build the Berlin Wall, told off Ché for not having read Marx and returned to Colombia, expelled from the Party. Political ideals, daily life and today’s cool Berlin play in counterpoint, shedding light on what could have been and what is.

 

Juana Awad is a media artist interested in personal and political histories. Her work ranges from video installation, to theatre, to music. Her video works have been sold to TV stations in Canada and USA, and have been screened at over 50 international film festivals including Argos Arts Belgium, UnInvited France, Rio Short Film Festival Brazil, Oberhausen Short Film Festival Germany and InsideOut Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Canada. Juana holds an MFA in Fine Art Media from the Slade School of Fine Art and a double degree in Drama and Semiotic and Communication Theory from the University of Toronto.


Artiste en arts médiatiques, Juana Awad s’intéresse aux histoires personnelles et politiques. Son travail s’étend de l’installation visuelle, au théâtre et à la musique. Ses vidéos ont été vendues à la télévision, au Canada et aux États-Unis, et présentées dans plus de 50 festivals internationaux, entre autres: Argos Arts Belgium, UnInvited France, Rio Short Film Festival Brazil, Oberhausen Short Film Festival Germany et Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Canada. Juana est diplômée en arts médiatiques (Slade School of Fine Art) et détient une double maîtrise en Drama et Semiotic and Communication Theory (University of Toronto).