Campus Magazin Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg 22/23

INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS
ME
WE
PROBABLY THE WORLD’S SHORTEST
POEM, WAS SPONTANEOUSLY DELIVER-
ED BY HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION MUHAM-
MAD ALI, AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY ON
JUNE 4TH, 1975. WHILE ALI WAS HOLDING
HIS OPENING ADDRESS, STUDENTS IN THE
AUDIENCE DEMANDED: "ALI, GIVE US A
POEM!". HIS REPLY CAME IN THE FAMOUS
LINES:
ME
WE
Besen Dilek, student at the Animation Institute, is the creator
of the icon that signifies the spirit of ME/WE. Inspired by the
poem, she developed the key visual, beautifully expressing the
interconnection, as a contemporary echo and interpretation to
Muhammad Ali’s words, 47 years after he uttered them.
A poem consisting of two words, two lines, two syllables,
both of them equally stressed, like two punches. Reduced
to the essential, these simple words serve as no
less than a reflection on life itself. There is a ME, for
the individual, and there is a WE, for the collective. Neither
is it possible for the ME to exist without the collective,
nor can the WE exist without its constituting
individuals. Our life is based on this very interaction and
ambiguity: on being part of something bigger, and being
separated from this entity at the same time. We thought
that this great little poem would be a good motto for the
International Class.
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