PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Maria Speth, Director of the film Mr Bachmann and his class.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

Maria Speth, director of Mr Bachmann and his class, screening in competition at the 71st Berlinale, just won the Silver Bear Jury Prize for her complete and detailed look into the life of unconventional and inspiring teacher Dieter Bachmann and his everyday work in a class composed by smart children, coming from different countries and backgrounds in the provincial German industrial town they live in. To quote Maria Speth’s words, Mr Bachman and his class’ 217 mins are: “an open- ended observation and the unprejudiced encounter with these people”. Even if Maria Speth points out that the film wasn’t a thesis about the reality of the Federal Republic as an immigration country or the presentation of an alternative pedagogic model, Mr Bachman and his class shows us a virtuous model and an inspiring teacher and the film does help people and the audience to open their mind.

Mr Bachmann and his class: an intimate documentary portraying the bond between an elementary school teacher and his students. His unconventional methods clash with the complex social and cultural realities of the provincial German industrial town they live in.

To discover more about the 71st edition of Berlin International Film Festival, click here.