About the film
The Idea
When it finally became clear that we, the KinderRÄchTsZÄnker (a group of young people campaigning for children's rights) were going to undertake the costly task of organising IDEC 2005, we got an exciting idea. It occurred to us that this conference would offer a good and what is more extremely rare opportunity to tell the German public in documentary format about the worldwide alternatives to the current national school routine.
We were able to start from the fact that several hundred people from all over the world, experts in the area of "democratic education", were going to meet in Berlin in the summer of 2005. R Kahl's film, "Hothouses of the future", had aroused much interest at the end of 2003 and we were already busy producing the documentary film, "Pretty Cool System", which has since been issued, so we became more confident that a film like "Democratic Schools" would attract wide attention.
However, we still had to decide what we actually wanted to achieve with a film like this. It soon became obvious to us that our target audience should not be those who were already experts in the politics of education. The idea emerged that we should produce a film that would try to show, as factually and objectively as possible, what unites these schools that assemble once a year under the visionary banner of democracy.
After a long process of selection we decided to have this project produced by the award-winning film-maker, Jan Gabbert. The fact that the costs for this are to be assumed by the National Ministry for Education and Research also gives us good reason to hope that this film will appeal to a wide public.
The film-maker and producer
Jan Gabbert
Jan Gabbert makes films, organises festivals and lives in Potsdam. In 2004 he won the documentary prize at the 46th Northern Film Festival in Lübeck with the film he made for his final diploma, "Rotweinrock und Lammfellmantel" (52 min, Doc). Up until 2004 he studied European Media Science at the University of Potsdam, the Potsdam FH and the Konrad Wolf HFF. Since 2004 he has organised and managed the EMERGE AND SEE festival of short films which has regular presentations in London, Berlin and Budapest. Since 2005 he has been studying for a master's degree in Arts and Media Administration at the Berlin FU.
Further information at www.jan-gabbert.de
Ellen Stein
At present Ellen Stein is living and working in Potsdam as a freelance designer. Her main work is in illustration and animation. In 2004 she rounded off her study in communication design at the Potsdam FH with a folio of work called "Cosmonaut meets astronaut meets taikonaut" Animation films from this folio have already been shown at many festivals, for example in Germany, France, Great Britain and Hungary. Some of her work in illustration will be shown at an exhibition to be held shortly in Czestochowa, Poland.
Further information at www.buchstabenschubser.de
Executive Producer
Clementina Hegewisch, Nextfilm
Further information www.nextfilm.de
Produced by
Mike Weimann, K.R.Ä.T.Z.Ä., Netzwerk Spiel/Kultur Prenzlauer Berg e.V.
Further information www.kraetzae.de www.netzwerkspielkultur.de
Director of Photography
Miriam Tröscher
Animation und Title Design
Ellen Stein
Further information www.buchstabenschubser.de
Location Sound, Sound Editing and Music
Uwe Bossenz
Sound Design Animation and Re-Recording Mixer
Jacob Ilgner
Colour Matching
Nico Roicke
Interview partners
Kim Edwards
English Student Secondary Association UK
Claudia Freeman
Ex-student Sands School UK
Jostein Strømmen
Nyskolen i Oslo Norway
Mikel Matisoo
Sudbury Valley School USA
Or Levi
Ex-student Democratic School of Kfar Sava Israel
Zoë Readhead
Principal Summerhill School UK
Ella Wagner
Student SchülerInnenschule Austria
Matt Matthew
Student Sands School UK
Althea Allen
Student Village School USA
Meghan Carrico
Staff Windsor House School Canada
Uwe Hartung
Staff Sudbury-Schule Halle-Leipzig e.V. Germany
Maíra Landulpho Alves Lopes
Staff Escola Internacional Lumiar Brasil
David Gribble
Founder Sands School UK
Gail Thomas
Professor Soka University of America
Martin Roberts
Staff Sands School UK
Dr. Gerhard Huhn
Management consultant and Expert for applied Brain Research Germany
Michael Sappir
Student Jerusalem Democratic School Israel
Anjo Snijders
Staff De Ruimte Netherlands