Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse

Co-presented by the students of Collège Maisonneuve and the Goethe-Institut Montreal. 

The film students of Collège Maisonneuve are inviting you to a benefit screening, the proceeds of which will fund a trip to Berlin as part of the Berlinale International Film Festival.

Haus-Kino at Goethe-Institut Montreal (1626 boul. St-Laurent, Montréal, QC, H2X 2T1):

Mr Bachmann and His Class

Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse
Director: Maria Speth
Germany, 2021, Documentary, 217 min.

Where does one feel at home? In Stadtallendorf, a German city with a complex history of both excluding and integrating foreigners, genial teacher Dieter Bachmann offers his pupils the key to at least feeling as if they are at home. Aged between twelve and fourteen, these pupils come from twelve different nations; some have not quite mastered the German language. On the brink of retirement, Bachmann is eager to inspire these citizens-in-the-making with a sense of curiosity for a wide range of crafts, subjects, cultures and opinions. Watching this absorbing, sensitive documentary, one is overwhelmed with the realisation that, if only all children were blessed with such emotionally intelligent, ever-patient educators, conflict would be mitigated via discussion and John Lennon’s "Imagine" could be our reality.

Those who, like filmmaker Maria Speth and her cinematographer Reinhold Vorschneider, are able to recognise and highlight so beautifully not only the importance of education but also what a quietly spectacular process it can be, are heroes in their own right, too.

The documentary by director Maria Speth premiered in the International Competition of the 71st Berlinale 2021, where it received the Silver Bear (Jury Prize) and was awarded the German Film Award 2021 for Best Documentary.