Interview with the director

DW: You have dealt with culture clash several times before, in more serious films like "Wut" (Rage), which you directed, and "Die Fremde" (When We Leave), which you produced. Now you have approached the subject in the form of a comedy with your film "300 Worte Deutsch" (300 Words of German). Why?

Zuli Aladag: Comedy is a very good way to make difficult topics accessible to a broad audience. Sometimes film makes it easier to have an impact and tackle prejudices than by having a long conversation and trying to convince people of something. It can be freeing to deal with such issues in a way that's not politically correct - even for people who have prejudices themselves. When it comes to the issue of immigration in Germany, which seems to come up in waves now and then, my intention is to make people relax a bit and make them laugh - also at themselves.

As you said, your film is not altogether politically correct ...

Right from the start, it was clear that the script also contained some bold statements. When it comes to issues like racism and prejudice, it can actually be good to exaggerate a bit. For some people, the outcome may be a bit too much or not have the right tone, but then again, you can never please everybody.

In the light of the recent PEGIDA demonstrations, your comedy doesn't seem to be so exaggerated after all. Some of the statements made in the film ring a bell.

Such [racist] statements are nothing new, but they have more of a platform right now. It's just that this platform called PEGIDA attracts the racists that have always existed in Germany. But when there aren't just 300 of them but 15,000 of them, they feel they have the right to speak out under the guise of civility and mainstream.

The current escalation, the clash of cultures, is precisely what the fanatics on both sides want to instigate, both Islamist extremists and German nationalists. At the same time, that situation will force society to define itself, its inner cohesion and its common values. And I think that the film - to the extent that a comedy can do so - demonstrates that Germans and Turks, Muslims and Christians, have more values in common and are more similar than they think.

In your film, there are also some supposedly tolerant characters. But even they stick to their stereotypes, and accuse their counterparts of either being "typically Turkish" or "typically German."

Racism affects all of us, even if we think of ourselves as being liberal or tolerant. Only the degree of racism may differ. In the heat of a debate, we accuse our opponent of being different, especially when it comes in handy for our argument. Most people are aware of that, and are able to keep their prejudices under control, or to minimize them by using rationality and reason.

Of course, a German-Turkish woman is different in some ways from a German woman. But we do not need to discuss that; that's just part of diversity. We cannot really define what a typical German man or woman is like, and the same holds true for a typical Turkish man or woman. I think it's always important to immigrants to be perceived in a more differentiated way.

These problems will ultimately be solved by younger generations, because for them it's normal to grow up in a democratic, globalized and multi-cultural society and it doesn't matter whether Jochen's or Kevin's grandparents came from Africa or not. The social sense of belonging will grow, deepen, and will become natural. For the last 50 years, we have been living in a period of transition between immigration and a society of immigrants. Such things take time.

Why is it that Turks, of all the immigrants in Germany, tend to be picked out more frequently?

I believe that's because for hundreds of years the Europeans lived in fear of the Ottomans who, after all, made it all the way to Vienna at one point. The fear of the Turks has historical roots, you could say.

Other factors that play a role are of course religion and different looks. And it has to do with the sheer number of Turkish immigrants, the size of that particular group. Apparently, the Turks in Germany provide a kind of common denominator for the principle of "otherness." Islamophobia will certainly increase because the radicalization of Muslims is also continuing to grow, and Islamist terrorists will pour oil on that fire. The outcome will be a downward spiral, which we will have to deal with even more in the future. At the same time, a growing number of people will grasp, especially after the Paris attacks on Charlie Hebdo, that there is also a colorful community of Muslims, Christians and Jews, that are demonstrating together and all share the same values.

Do you hope that your film can make a difference in the integration debate?

Definitely. I believe that people can see themselves in the film, whether they are Turkish or German. Everyone knows someone who has voiced his or her views on the immigration topic. They are not necessarily mainstream, it's just that in the heat of a debate, a particular statement can slip out of their mouths. People who embrace the film in an open fashion will be able to laugh at themselves and their own prejudices.

Turkish-born Zuli Aladag came to Germany at the age of five and grew up in Stuttgart. He studied drama in Munich and completed an internship with famed director Roland Emmerich. He quickly gained recognition as a screenwriter and director. His controversial integration drama "Wut"(2006) has won several awards. He also received the German Film Award in Bronze for producing "When We Leave" in 2010.