Das Kino von Med Hondo

This publication is the third of a series that aims to pay tribute to Med Hondo’s cinema and to reinvigorate interest in his films. It consists of twenty-two essays and interviews in French and German, published in their original language. It is important for these texts to exist in their original form so that they may activate discussions about Hondo′s work that is only now slowly gaining recognition in countries such as Germany. The publication only exists in digital form.

Das Kino von Med Hondo / Le cinéma de Med Hondo is published in the frame of the film research, festival and exhibition project Cours, cours, camarade, le vieux monde est derrière toi—Run, comrade, run, the old world is behind you—The Cinema of Med Hondo by Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. (Berlin) in partnership with the late Med Hondo, MH Films (Montreuil) and silent green Kulturquartier (Berlin).

Das Kino von Med Hondo
Deutsche und französische Originaltexte,
1970–2020

Le cinéma de Med Hondo
Textes originaux allemands et français,
1970–2020

1970—2018 Interviews with Med Hondo, the first volume in a three-part publication, brings together seventeen interviews conducted with Med Hondo over a period of almost half a century, most of the interviews originally published in French were translated into English. The publication originated in the project Cours, cours, camarade, le vieux monde est derrière toi—Run, comrade, run, the old world is behind you—The Cinema of Med Hondo. Read more

On the Run, Perspectives on the Cinema of Med Hondo, features contributions that pay tribute to Med Hondo’s films in highly contrasting ways. The publication originated in the project Cours, cours, camarade, le vieux monde est derrière toi—Run, comrade, run, the old world is behind you—The Cinema of Med Hondo. Read more

Med Hondo: “Leftist”? I don’t know what that means. It’s a word that’s now used here and there to refer to different realities and cover up reformist policies. Obviously, I’m on the side of the young man who, rather than invite this Negro home and blah-blah-blah… tells him, “Run, run, comrade, the old world is behind us.” The second time, he says, “Behind you.” It’s an invitation to the struggle, which is a better answer than mutual self-pity, isn’t it? In fact, he’s telling him, “Get our shit together! Get your shit together!” In my mind, the change from “our” to “your” implies that the immigrant worker is exploited even more than the French worker. I don’t make cinema so as to impose my ideas on others, but rather to speak out about what disturbs me in the world, what makes me sick and prevents me from breathing.

Documentation of the exhibition Double Feature Picture Show by Theo Eshetu held at Archive in the frame of the project Cours, cours, camarade, le vieux monde est derrière toi—Run, comrade, run, the old world is behind you—The Cinema of Med Hondo. Exhibition dates: 20.8.2017−10.9.2017. More on Archive sites website.

→ The first issue of Archive Journal was conceived in the frame of the project Cours, cours, camarade, le vieux monde est derrière toi—Run, comrade, run, the old world is behind you—The Cinema of Med Hondo. The program traversed Med Hondo’s extraordinary body of work contributing in making his work more accessible for future generations. Download pdf