In 2009 the tiny Pacific state of Palau agreed to accept six Guantánamo detainees who in China belonged to the oppressed Muslim minority of the Uyghurs. Despite proof that they were innocent they had been unable to return to their home country after seven years’ imprisonment in Guantánamo. Johnson Toribiong, Palau’s president, talks so sympathetically of the problems and needs of the exiles that it’s difficult to believe a politician is speaking. We see images of daily life on the idyllic South Sea island, where the Uyghurs – without passports – are again to some extent prisoners.
About the artist
Daniel Matzke, born 1974 in Halle/Saale, studied Visual Communication under Wim Wenders at the University for Fine Arts (HFBK) in Hamburg. Central ideas in his work are Projection and Reflection. He works and lives as an artist, filmmaker, teacher, projectionist and live subtitler in Hamburg and Amsterdam.
