FREIZEIT or: the opposite of doing nothing

FREIZEIT oder: das gegenteil von nichtstun

Director: Caroline Pitzen
Country: Germany

2021 | 71 min. | German
Subtitles: English

Cast_ Jasper Penz, Juno Groth, Lilly Marie Dressel, Maxim Hartig, Mila Wischnewski Camera_ Markus Koob Producer_ Caroline Pitzen, Ljupcho Temelkovski , Philipp Fröhlich Rights_ OKNO

A Berlin neighbourhood and its young people, who are totally committed to political activism. A film made not about them, but with them.

What’s on the minds of those who are coming of age in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain today? Working with five dedicated young people, Caroline Pitzen has created a film that documents their lives. “There is no alternative to inaction,” is a quote from East German author Ronald Schernikau’s ›Kleinstadtnovelle‹. This film starts off with an excerpt from a 1980 television talk show in which Schernikau elaborated on that sentence: “It came from my experience in student council that nothing ever rocked the boat.” Almost 40 years later, the young people are just as unwilling to settle for that. We see them talking: in flats, on the street, in the park and at the lake. They plan demonstrations and campaigns, talk about gentrification, sexism, racism, the capitalist meritocracy — and drugs.Presented by Berlin Critic's Week

Director

Director and producer Caroline Pitzen was born in Berlin in 1986. She studied film at the Berlin University of the Arts. ›FREIZEIT oder: das gegenteil von nichtstun‹ is her first feature film; it had its world premiere in March 2021 at the Berlin Critics’ Week held alongside the Berlinale.

Screenings

  • Thursday 11.11.202117:00MannheimMAStadthaus N1
  • Friday 12.11.202121:30HeidelbergHDKarlstorkino

Online Streaming

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