FILM: “Children are an audience that needs to be excited”

After filming in a class at a so-called hot spot school for three years, you said that teachers should receive acting training.

Of course I didn’t mean that seriously, but the children are an audience that needs to be excited, that needs to be taken along, whose attention needs to be kept, and every day is very long in a school class like that. Only a few teachers can do that. The charisma and authenticity of a teacher make a huge difference, and children sense that.

Do you see your film as a criticism of the school system?

Yes, implicitly very much so. I wanted to set a positive example with an incredibly committed teacher. It is clear to anyone who sees the film that this teacher is alone in the class and that the children have language deficits, even though they are already in fourth grade at the end of the film. There are many discussions about the inadequate education system that the film has sparked.

What would have to change?

I am neither a politician nor an educator, but it is logical that children have to learn German before starting school, which is only compulsory in Austria at the age of six. And not just in kindergartens, but in preschools, where German is specifically taught as a foreign language so that they can really speak it perfectly when they start school. You can see that intelligent children do not understand the text examples when doing arithmetic.

Interview

snapshot-photography/B.Niehaus

Ruth Beckermannborn in Vienna in 1952, is one of the most prominent Austrian documentary filmmakers. She studied journalism and art history in Vienna and Tel Aviv and photography in New York. In February 2018, her documentary “Waldheim’s Waltz” about the politician and former UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim and his possible involvement in Nazi crimes was shown at the Berlinale. The film was awarded best documentary film at the festival and entered the Oscar race for Austria. Her latest film “Favoriten” premiered at the Berlinale in February 2024.

Did all families immediately agree to their children being filmed during class? And was there a kind of veto right for certain scenes because some children can also be seen in unpleasant situations?

I wonder about this question. Did you feel that way about the film?

The children are shown with a lot of empathy. But you can also see, for example, how a girl repeatedly fails at an arithmetic problem for an agonizingly long time.

But just ask yourself what the same people put on the Internet. As a journalist, you don’t ask any questions. You ask a filmmaker who filmed for three years whether people knew what she was filming or that she was filming. That’s clear.

There are very strict data protection regulations for photos and film recordings at German schools and daycare centers. It could also have been that you weren’t allowed to film a certain child, for example.

No, that wasn’t the case. We were introduced to the parents, we had permission from everyone to film. Some have already seen parts, some already know the entire film from the Berlinale or the Diagonale in Graz. So far everyone is excited.

Modern pedagogy, such as needs-based pedagogy, calls into question some of the methods still commonly used in schools. I see the teacher in your film as very committed, especially when she discusses with the children and shows a lot of understanding for their different cultural backgrounds. However, the fact that she addresses children with nicknames or silences them with a dirty look would be viewed critically in this pedagogy.

I’m a filmmaker and I’m not need-oriented or anything. And I don’t know why I’m being asked things here that I honestly find ridiculous. It would be nice if all teachers were so warm and addressed the children as Schatzi or whatever and not ice cold, which is what you seem to think is good.

Not ice cold at all, it’s about appreciative and respectful pedagogy.

Why isn’t it a sign of appreciation when you address a child as “Schatzi”? What speaks against it?

You could first ask whether the child actually wants this. You would have to ask Daniel if he would like to be called that. It’s a trivialization

I don’t know if you have children, but small children are often called by pet names. If a child is called Daniel, can’t you call him Dani?

It was your idea for the children to film each other and you included their videos in the film. Was this filming part of the lesson or did it take place outside of it?

No, it was during class that the children had their cell phones and interviewed each other. The teacher liked the idea. We were also able to go to the market with small groups of children, for example – there was a lot of trust in us, both from the parents and from the school.

Have you learned anything from the young filmmakers?

I didn’t just want to show the children as students, but I also didn’t want to go into the families, into the apartments, but rather stay in the school context. And through these interviews, surprising things came out. For example, that someone wants to live in Dubai, or this interview with the teacher that the children did when we weren’t there. There were just surprising themes and answers, and I found that very refreshing.

»Favoriten«, Austria 2024. Director: Ruth Beckermann. 119 minutes, start: September 19th.

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