Film programmes

All together now
A documentary film programme for children and young people on commonalities and sharing

In collaboration with the Duisburg institution “doxs! – dokumentarfilme für kinder und jugendliche”, the documentary film programme for young audiences is taking place for the eighth time at the 2014 steirischer herbst. On show are films which deal with topics, problems, but also the visual language and aesthetic of children and young people – all with links to the festival theme “I prefer not to ... share”. The aim of the programme is to present documentary film cultures as relevant narrative strategies in contemporary film and to work towards establishing alternative skills for a critical, reflective, expert and autonomous handling of the film medium. Here again, as a cross-discipline festival, steirischer herbst not only intervenes in current artistic debates, but also in current media education strategies.


Film programme
13/10 - 17/10
Heimatsaal im Volkskundemuseum

No matter whether it’s in the school yard or in the playground: even at an early age harmonious coexistence can soon turn into conflict-laden discord. Particularly in places where culturally and socially heterogeneous opinions and biographies clash, the aim is to question what we perceive as “us” and “them” so as to renegotiate the rules of the game and how we deal with each other.
The film programme “All together now” takes a look at these conflict lines of a generation increasingly characterised by migration and heterogeneity, one that has yet to define common ground in culturally complex societal constellations. In “Krokodile ohne Sattel”, for example, the young protagonist Kaddi describes the difficult search for identity between her African and German origins. Film-maker Robert-Jan Lacombe ventures a step back, to his childhood days in Congo, in the film “Back to Mandima”, taking his own biography to reflect on questions of belonging and irreconcilable cultural differences.
Two portraits of children with physical disabilities demonstrate how difference can be lived and experienced in a community despite all difficulties. The Dutch film “Sounds for Mazin” accompanies a deaf boy about to undergo an operation that will enable him to hear, while in “Der Sommerclub” a Berlin girl gang proves impressively that – and how – inclusion can be achieved.
A Swiss facility offering homeless people a communal life is presented in the animated documentary “Die Nacht des Bären”, taking the viewer to the fringes of a welfare society. The fact that the dividing lines between communal sharing and contemporary working models are often blurred becomes clear to the director Jan Peters in the course of a cinematic self-experiment – “Wie ich ein freier Reisebegleiter wurde” begins with an offer to share a ticket and ends with the bitter realisation that sharing is not necessarily an expression of generosity. Sometimes it is no more than the desperate attempt to rescue a society that has sunk into economic crisis with specious working models.
“All together now” presents eleven films that describe commonalities and sharing. We can expect the essential realisation that zero is divisible only in a mathematical context.

Some films will be shown with English subtitles. All screenings will be accompanied by a hosted film discussion in German, in some cases with the director.
Curator Gudrun Sommer
Participation is free of charge. Limited number of participants.

Information and registration:
p +43 664 24 500 90 / ertl@steirischerherbst.at


Mon 13/10, 08.30 - 10.00
Heimatsaal im Volkskundemuseum
Fremde Kinder: Kiran
Krokodile ohne Sattel
Suitable for age 12+
Followed by a hosted film discussion
Hosted by Roman Fasching


Tue 14/10, 08.30 - 10.00
Heimatsaal im Volkskundemuseum
Kwa heri Mandima – Auf Wiedersehen
Mandima
Retour à Mandima – Rückkehr nach Mandima
Suitable for age 14+
Followed by a film discussion with Robert-Jan Lacombe
Hosted by Petra Erdmann and workshop-participants „Die Kunst der Moderation“


Wed 15/10, 08.30 - 10.00
Heimatsaal im Volkskundemuseum
Geluiden voor Mazin – Klänge für Mazin
Jag har varit här – Ich war hier
Suitable for age 10+
Hosted by Stephanie Lang-Král


Thu 16/10, 08.30 - 10.00
Heimatsaal im Volkskundemuseum
Eagle Boy – Adlerjunge
Stark: Der Sommerclub
Suitable for age 8+
Followed by a film discussion with Gry Elisabeth Mortensen
Hosted by Stephanie Lang-Král


Fri 17/10, 08.30 - 10.00
Heimatsaal im Volkskundemuseum
La nuit de l‘ours – Die Nacht des Bären
Wie ich ein freier Reisebegleiter wurde
Rogalik
Suitable for age 16
Hosted by Roman Fasching