Originally published in German and English (both written by Malak AlSayyad)
When Denijen Pauljević first encountered Matthias Weinzierl at a coffee shop in
Munich, it was only his second day at the Refugee camp, after living in hiding for an
entire year since his arrival in Germany. At only 18 years old, he had to flee from
Belgrade to escape the Yugoslav wars in 1992. He came to Munich through Prague,
where he wanted to study film directing, but due to the program being prohibitively
expensive for foreign students, he got an internship in Czech television instead. Then he
crossed into Germany illegally and arrived in Munich, where Denijen has been living for
the past 25 years.
„Beschränkung“ (Constraint) is a short film that was written and directed in 1995 by
Denijen in collaboration with Matthias. When the two of them were first getting to
know each other over coffee that day in Munich, they realized they have a common
interest in filmmaking. Matthias immediately suggested that they make a film together:
Denijen would write the script for a short film and they would meet again in two weeks.
“I thought to myself, well, I just met this guy five minutes ago and he’s suddenly offering
to produce a film with me.” Denijen shares laughingly, “then I said, why not? Just write
it and see what happens... So, I did.”
Indeed, two weeks later, Matthias came back, and the pair edited the script together. In
a matter of two months, Matthias had also managed to raise the necessary funds and put
together a small film crew. They completed the film in six weeks and started showing it
in cinemas as a pre-screening and at universities around Germany and beyond. It was
pretty successful.
Denijen explains how at the time, between 1992 and 94, there was a comparable “crisis”
of refugees like in recent years, though not at the same scale. Almost 300,000 refugees
came to Germany in one year, mainly from Bosnia and Herzegovina. People at the time
also protested that “the boat is full!” he says and the refugees were met with animosity,
discrimination and even violence as the first infamous attacks on refugee camps
occurred during that period. Denijen was able to surround himself with people who
were accepting and welcoming to refugees and other migrants. “But still, the xenophobia
was present in Munich,” he recalls, “especially while dealing with the bureaucratic
processes of getting my residence permit renewed every three months. I could really feel
the rejection and hostility there.”
The word “Beschrankung” (constraint) described the life he and many others were
expected to lead as asylum seekers in Germany. They were not allowed to work, nor to
study, nor to move freely beyond the city of Munich. “It is as if they expected me to just
sit in the container and wait.”, he explains,” but of course, I didn’t do that. [...] I tried to
make the best of my situation... if they would have deported me the next morning, at
least I would know I didn’t just sit passively waiting in the corner.” Denijen worked
illegally, formed a band with whom he performed at many concerts and of course,
travelled to various cities to screen and present his film. Today, he feels like the
pressure, the suspense, the fear and his desire to make the best out of it all, gave him a
sensation of living very intensely, an intensity that he is yet to experience again.
When he wrote first the script for the film years ago, the words came to him intuitively
and spontaneously, but now looking back, he realizes how the fragility of his life and
threat to his existence - due to the war and the danger of being sent back - was
symbolized in the film through his use of the motif of glass and frailty. Watching the film
today is an experience that makes Denijen feel like he has been transported back in
time. “It’s not that I can’t remember it. I just don’t feel it anymore.”
Today, Denijen works in Asylum-consulting. He explains that when he speaks to recent
refugees at work, he feels like he is on the other side, even though he experienced
something similar and had a very hard time living in fear and precarity for those two or
three years. “When I watch the film every once in a while, these feelings of fear and
uncertainty that used to weigh me down so much, come back to me momentarily.”
Denijen worked hard and fought for his freedom from the constraints in which he lived.
For the past 20 years he has enjoyed the same freedoms as other Germans, including a
German citizenship, which he was granted in 2017. And yet, “constraints” often find
their way back into his life, but he does not feel acutely confined from the outside, like in
the past, but that he himself is responsible for his current constraints.
He hopes that his film can inspire newcomers who are going through what he once went
through to break out of their constraints and out of situations that they do not approve
of, despite the difficulty. He hopes to show the importance of staying active and not
waiting for help from someone else, because for him, what is most important is making
the best out of your own situation with your own actions.
Twenty-five years later, Denijen likes this short film he made in his youth, an amateur
production with limited technical possibilities, because despite the everything, it has its
own “raw power”, he feels.
“It is a little bit rough and a little bit wild.”
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