Leona Goldstein

Leona Goldstein

Biography

The photographer and filmmaker, born in 1976, studied art and design (in Munich), photography (in Rome) and communications design (in Berlin), and attended Prof. Arno Fischer’s class at Berlin‘s “Ostkreuz School for Photography and Design”. Her works include the book and exhibition project “Your View through my Eyes” about the Dachau concentration camp, documentaries about Cambodia, Vietnam and Mexico, as well as a photography project in cooperation with the “Flucht nach vorn” initiative about unaccompanied young refugees in Germany.

As the result of a six-month grant to conduct research on fleeing countries and migration in West Africa, France and Germany, Leona Goldstein released an impressive multimedia project at the start of 2008. A large-format book, published by “Pro Asyl”, featured three photo essays about the refugees in “Fortress Europe”. The Berlin photographer accompanied refugees with her camera along Europe’s southern borders as they made their way from Morocco to Spain (“Hold the Line”). She took photos of immigrants from Eastern Europe in Italy and the Ukraine ("Transit Home"), while documenting the "European reality of asylum” in Germany, France and Spain ("6 m² Rule-of-law State").

Leona Goldstein preceded her book with a quote from Hannah Arendt: “Of all the specific freedoms that may come to mind when we think of the word ‘freedom’, the freedom of movement is not only historically the oldest, but also the most fundamental; to be able to break free and set off to wherever one wishes is the most primal form of freedom, and conversely, the restriction of freedom of movement has been a prerequisite for slavery since time immemorial.” The tri-lingual book also features a DVD which not only contains all of her photographs, but also two documentaries by Leona Goldstein. "Au clair de la lune” analyses what causes people in Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast and Mali to flee to Europe, and "Le Heim" documents the isolation and the daily life marked by uncertainty that await refugees in Europe.

Filmography

Le Heim (2006): Direction

Au clair de la lune (2005/06): Editing, Camera, Screenplay, Direction