Otomo is a German film about racism directed by Frieder Schlaich, distributed by ArtMattan productions, and was released in 1999.[1]

Actor Isaach de Bankole plays Frederic Otomo, and actress Eva Mattes, Gisela, the woman who tries to help him.[2]

Otomo was the winner of numerous awards, including the Diversity in Spirit Award, Vancouver 2000, Best Film, Belgamo 2000, Best Actress, Valinciennes 2000 and a Kino Award.[3][4]

Critical reviews

The film received generally positive reviews from Western critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 10 reviews.[5] While Metacritic reported that the film had an average score of 60 out of 100, based on 8 critic reviews.[6]

Plot

The journey begins with Frederic Otomo departing from his home, early one morning, to get a job at a factory in Germany. There, he is refused employment from a cast of all Caucasian workers, predicated upon the claim that his shoes are not proper for the work. Later, he departs for home on a train, disappointed, to be kicked off of the train by a ticket inspector who claims that his ticket has expired. Suddenly, Otomo becomes a fugitive when the ticket inspector refuses to let him off of the train, and instead, tries to have him arrested. Fleeing, he later encounters a grandmother who attempts to help him escape Stuttgart, to Amsterdam. He kisses her then leaves, and is finally caught by police officers, while he is waiting for her on a bridge. Left no choice but to defend himself, Otomo, in desperation, stabs the five officers, and one of them shoots him dead.[7]

Background

The movie is a fictionalized account of an event that occurred on 8 August 1989 in Stuttgart. Frederic Otomo, a Cameroonian who also used the name of Albert Ament from Liberia, fatally stabbed police officers Harald Poppe and Peter Quast with a bayonet hidden in a rolled-up newspaper and wounded three other police officers before being fatally shot by one of the officers. See de:Polizistenmord auf der Gaisburger Brücke

References

  1. ↑ African Film
  2. ↑ "Eva Mattes". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  3. ↑ Otomo DVD
  4. ↑ Awards 1996
  5. ↑ "Otomo", Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved 2022-11-09
  6. ↑ "Otomo", Metacritic, retrieved 2022-11-09
  7. ↑ Otomo (1999) - IMDb


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