In the organizer's words:

5 years Dortmund Goes Black - let's celebrate together!

Four days of festival. Four days of black art. Four days of community.

Under the motto You yourself are the sun, we are inspired by the Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène (1923-2007). Sembène, a pioneer of African cinema and chronicler of black history and resilience, shows us that everyone can be light, strength and change. His credo "Moi je suis même ma soleil" is a radical declaration of independence: we do not revolve around others, we do not wait to be illuminated - we are our own source of light. Historically, Sembène fought against the foreign gaze on Africa and made cinema a medium in which black people could tell their own stories and make emancipation visible.

After five years, the festival has become a permanent place for exchange, visibility and empowerment - a space in which new perspectives emerge and community comes to life.

This year's participants include: Anna Dushime with her new book 1000 Last Dates. Open, clever and humorous, Anna Dushime combines personal experiences from the paths and detours of dating with political questions about racism, sexism and self-worth. She thus brings a strong literary voice to the festival.

And the dance theater piece Beautysalon, which will be shown in the Studio. With text by Mohamed Wa Baile, staging by Kapi Grab and choreography by Bheki Ndlovu, the piece brings a special place of black culture to the stage: the beauty salon.

We invite you to celebrate, think and dance along with us - and put our stories in the spotlight together.

Dortmund Goes Black: Theater Dortmund