Villagers in the Westerwald remember one of their own, Bouchbennersch Otto. He was born Otto Müller in 1907, survived two world wars, learned to be a bookbinder and later became the beadle. Otto was known all over the village and in the surrounding villages. And he did stick out somewhat: unlike everyone else, someone who was different, had aberrant thoughts and feelings and spoke differently, also a man of extreme emotional intelligence, a gifted pub entertainer and most certainly a desperate man in the line of Woyzeck and Kaspar Hauser. Under Hitler Otto was sterilised by force; he died an alcoholic in a home in the early 1990s. Janina Jung has composed a beautifully modern “heimatfilm” with “Bouchbennersch Otto”, whose best moments offer us a flashing glimpse of how memories always shed a light on those who remember, too.

Ralph Eue

---

Golden Dove in the International Short Documentary Competition 2012

Parents decide, sure. When to go to bed and whether you’re allowed candy before, but also your religion and the type of school you attend – where would we be without this?
Kiran for his part would like to have a say in the choice of school. The 8-year-old French boy lives with his mother in a yurt in the forest. He knows which plants are edible and where there are bales of straw to play on. A sheltered life, at one with nature, full of love and freedom. No angry words, no junk food. But no washing machine either, no electric light, no computer. In the free school the children pray to the elements and play the flute.
But Kiran longs for dissonance instead of harmony, a little trouble instead of eternal goodwill. He wants to eat hot dogs with ketchup and go to a school where Pokémon cards are permitted and children are taught to read – even if his mother thinks that’s overrated. And Kiran is resourceful...
Bettina Timm and Alexander Riedel’s account is full of gentle humour, but never discrediting. They create magic moments when the boy seems to be one with his environment. But they also find images for his gradual detachment from this world as he starts to walk his own path – on the trails of Max and Moritz or Tom Sawyer.

– Grit Lemke