Archive
Mr Bachmann and His Class
Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse
2021 Germany 217 min N-7
Added to my films
Intimate documentary portraying the bond between an elementary school teacher and his students. The pupils from 9 countries and very different cultures came together in a provincial German industrial town. Teacher Bachmann has been working in this social minefield for seventeen years. He has unconventional methods. He is an ex-revolutionary, a drop-out, a folk singer, a sculptor. His highest goal is to transmit to every single child that it is valuable, that it is somebody rather than nothing.
“It’s a film full of light and inspiration. Although Maria Speth did not abide by the industry rules concerning duration of the film, it does not feel prolonged, both due to the involving classroom life with dilemmas of the children, and the films ability to bring out the memories of one’s own teachers, especially of the one, who was more significant than the others. The film is filled with a certain silent, but mighty power to unite, reminding of the meaning of an authoritative figure accompanying not only children, but also grown-ups facing uncertainty.” (Aistė Račaitytė)
World Premiere: Berlinale, Official Competition, 2021
Awards: Berlinale Silver Bear and Official Competition Audience Award, 2021
“It’s a film full of light and inspiration. Although Maria Speth did not abide by the industry rules concerning duration of the film, it does not feel prolonged, both due to the involving classroom life with dilemmas of the children, and the films ability to bring out the memories of one’s own teachers, especially of the one, who was more significant than the others. The film is filled with a certain silent, but mighty power to unite, reminding of the meaning of an authoritative figure accompanying not only children, but also grown-ups facing uncertainty.” (Aistė Račaitytė)
World Premiere: Berlinale, Official Competition, 2021
Awards: Berlinale Silver Bear and Official Competition Audience Award, 2021
Director's biography
Maria Speth (b. 1967, Germany) is a writer, director, and producer of features and documentaries. Her debut feature The Days Between premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2001, where it won the VPRO Tiger Award. She also directed feature Madonnas (2007), documentary 9 Lives (2009), premiered and awarded in DOK Leipzig, and feature Daughters (2014), premiered at Berlinale.
Director(s) - Maria Speth
Screenwriter(s) - Maria Speth, Reinhold Vorschneider
Actors - Dieter Bachmann
Producer(s) - Maria Speth
Cinematographer - Reinhold Vorschneider
Editor(s) - Maria Speth
Sound - Oliver Göbel
Composer(s) -
Sales agent -
Distributor - Kino Pavasaris Distribution
Production company -
Translation - Živilė Gapšienė
Dialogues - German
Subtitles - Lithuanian, English
Director's biography
Maria Speth (b. 1967, Germany) is a writer, director, and producer of features and documentaries. Her debut feature The Days Between premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2001, where it won the VPRO Tiger Award. She also directed feature Madonnas (2007), documentary 9 Lives (2009), premiered and awarded in DOK Leipzig, and feature Daughters (2014), premiered at Berlinale.
