Sophie Ataya | Who We Are

“Who We Are” (WT) is a feature-length documentary exploring the erasure of Palestinian identity in Germany. Through a deeply personal lens, it follows the director’s journey to reclaim her Palestinian heritage after growing up in an East German village where any connection to it was met with silence—from family, the community, and, by extension, the German state.

The film traces the absence of Palestinian history in her family and the silence surrounding it, questioning why her father avoided his own identity after settling in Germany. By delving into the past, she seeks to reclaim what was lost. What does it mean to reconnect with a heritage that was never transmitted? How does one reclaim a silenced identity? The film documents this journey, retrieving collective family memories and unmuting what was hidden.

Through personal letters and old photographs of her parents, the film sheds light on a long-forgotten solidarity between East Germany and the PLO—a connection that has vanished, just as East Germany itself has. Through conversations with her mother and other characters, the film challenges the system of integration, showing how reunification forced her father to become one of the “good foreigners”—someone expected to assimilate completely.

Being both German and Palestinian becomes unbearably painful after October 7th, as the repression of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices in Germany intensifies. Questioning her place in a state she once called home, among people she once called friends, brings a deep sense of uprootedness—and a new, suffocating silence.

The film takes place in various locations where her family left traces—Germany, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria—and follows her return to Damascus thirty years later. There, she meets her Palestinian family, whose memories of her grandparents’ house in Safad offer new insight into her family’s history.

“Who We Are” (WT) is a film that seeks to reclaim a silenced history and assert the right to remember and narrate one’s identity. Through intimate storytelling and evocative imagery, the documentary captures the emotional and political journey of reclaiming Palestinian identity in a society that often seeks to erase it. It is a reflection on the importance of heritage and memory in shaping who we are, while also challenging the erasure of Palestinian voices in contemporary discourse.

The project is produced by Seera Films, with Thomas Kaske and Marion Schmidt as producers.

Working on a personal project rarely has a clear beginning. I carried this one within me for years until I started outlining it for the first time in early 2023. After securing the support of my producers, I began the initial research phase at the end of 2024, conducting the first interviews and working with a private archive – mainly photographs, VHS footage, and letters.

Being selected as an Onassis AiR Fellow gave me the time and space to further develop the film’s creative concept and visual language. With the support of the Onassis network and the partnerships I formed within the Athenian creative and activist communities, I assembled a small crew with whom I continued working on the footage I had already shot.