32. Internationales Forum des Jungen Films

As every Forum regular knows, the chances are better than even that you will find a documentary by either Volker Koepp or Barbara and Winfried Junge in the program. This year, both are on hand with new documentaries: Koepp with Uckermark and the Junges with Jochen ­ ein Golzower aus Philadelphia. If you have been following Die Kinder von Golzow series, then the latter should not be missed ­ it’s the 17th edition in a 40-year chronicle on what has happened to a first grade class in the Oderbruch town of Golzow in Land Brandenburg on the border to Poland. Not too far away from the Oderbruch is the Uckermark, just 60 kilometers from Berlin heading northeast towards the Vorpommern (West Pomerania) border to Poland. The landscape is idyllic, no matter which time of the year it happens to be ­ and for Uckermark Volker Koepp and his ace cameraman Thomas Plenert filmed in all four seasons. This is a place of rolling hills, lovely lakes, spacious fields, and tree-lined backroads that stretch as far as the eye can see. The Uckermark, given its surface area, is the largest such district in Germany ­ larger, in fact, than Land Saarland on the southeastern border to France. But it also happens to be one of the least settled areas in the country. In his own quiet, laconic, unobtrusive way Volker Koepp tells you why. With 20% of the population unemployed (one of the highest ratios in Germany), and with agricultural advancements pushing the need for farm labor down even further, the young tend to look elsewhere for future prospects while the old sit around talking about the past ­ when this »Junkerland« of marches and nobility gave way to post 1945 land reforms under the socialist government. We look forward to one of those light-handed, informative give-and take talkshows between Volker Koepp and Ulrich Gregor on the stage of the Delphi-Filmpalast at the Uckermark premiere.

       Another Forum entry that will prompt discussion is Klassenfahrt (Class Trip) by Henner Winckler. When I was young, school outings were still quite rare. Now these class trips belong to the Bildungsreisen (educational outings) on the annual school schedule. But are they worth the time and trouble? ­ questions Henner Winckler in his honest, authentic film about young people with few ideals, mostly immature, and stuck in the throes of puberty. This class trip is to Poland on the Baltic Sea, to be quartered in a sad dump of a hotel. Do the youngsters bother to absorb impression of people and landscape? Hardy. They just hang around, bored stiff, and interested only in where the next beer is coming from. Growing up, for them, is the dumps ­ feelings are not to be shown, if they have any in the first place. The boys put on macho airs, the girls are with little charm or grace. Ronny, a loner, though sympathetic in his ways, has his eye on Isa and fumbles around trying to impress her. At a disco, however, she meets Marek, a young Pole, and now he’s interested in Isa as well. This forces a showdown between Ronny and Marek, a test of daring courage to show who’s the better ­ and Marek meets his death. In general, a depressing film, yet one that doesn’t pull any punches in depicting reality for what it unfortunately is. You can’t easily turn your back on Class Trip. Rather, it demands your attention and respect. And good luck, Christoph Terhechte, at your first Forum!

­ Editors