Nora Fingscheidt – System Crasher #Berlinale2019

February 14, 2019

Nora Fingscheidt - System Crasher #Berlinale2019 fredfilmradio

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PODCAST| Sarah Bradbury interviews Nora Fingscheidt, director of the film System Crasher.

German film writer and director Nora Fingscheidt spoke to us about how she had always wanted to make a film about a wild little girl and coming across the concept of the “System Crasher” provided the inspiration for her story. Fingscheidt also explained to us how she discovered and worked with the young Helena Zengel to bring out an incredible performance as troubled Benni, the important connection and chemistry between Helena and Albrechte Schuh as Micha and why her film sought to present the story without making judgment on Benni or the adults in her life and child services wanting to help and protect her.

System Crasher: Bernadette, or Benni as she prefers to be known, is a delicate-looking girl with unbridled energy. She is a ‘system crasher’. This term is used to describe children who break every single rule; children who refuse to accept any kind of structure and who gradually fall through the cracks in Germany’s child and welfare services. No matter where this nine-year-old is taken in, she is booted out again after a short time. And that is exactly what she is after, because all she wants is to be able to live with her mother again: a woman who is totally unable to cope with her daughter’s incalculable behaviour. Made from her own multi-award-winning script, Nora Fingscheidt has created an intense drama about one child’s overwhelming need for love and security and the potential for violence that this engenders. At the same time, the film depicts the tireless attempts of educators and psychologists who use respect, trust and confidence to create a way forward for children who threaten to destroy others and themselves as a result of their unpredictable outbursts.

To discover more about the film, click here.

Written by: fredfilmradio

Berlinale Nora Fingscheidt Sarah Bradbury System Crasher