(The Candidates)
A film by Michael Schwarz
Duration: 82 minutes, German with English Subtitles
Synopsis:
The German federal election of 2017 is considered historic and, like no other election before, still has an immense influence on current politics. Whereas the election campaigns of the top candidates such as Merkel and Schulz were exploited in detail by the media, we lack a focus on the campaigns of the grass roots of the political parties, far away from Berlin.
The film accompanies six young politicians of the biggest political parties from Rhineland-Palatinate during the crucial phase of the election campaign: Jan Metzler (Christian Democratic Union, 36), Thomas Hitschler (Social Democratic Party, 34), David Dietz (Free Democratic Party, 35), Misbah Khan (Bündnis 90 / the Greens, 27), Max Keck (The Left, 19) and Sebastian Münzenmaier (Alternative for Germany, 28).
By attending panel discussions, door-to-door campaigning, visits at the local fair and interviews we learn how election campaigns work on a small scale, and we see the variety of challenges young politicians have to face. Our protagonists are always close to the people, who support, criticize or reject them. Despite the difficulties, they all have to act according to the motto “Keep on fighting!”.
Michael Schwarz
Michael Schwarz initially worked for numerous film and television companies; e.g. at Bavaria Film, for the television series SISKA and on behalf of the Neue Münchner Filmproduktion as script supervisor and first assistant director. From 2002-2007, he studied film and theatre studies in Mainz while working as a freelance director and assistant director. In 2007 he began to study Film / Video at the Art Academy Mainz. After getting his art diploma in 2011, Michael Schwarz became master apprentice of Prof. Dr. Harald Schleicher (Art Academy Mainz, film class) and carries on working as a freelance director and author. His films received multiple awards and have been presented at over 170 national and international film festivals.
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You can watch the film here.
After the screening, from about 8:00 pm IST, you can join the open discussion with Dr. Thorsten Holzhauser from the University of Mainz along with the filmmaker, Michael Schwarz on Facebook.
Kindly click https://www.facebook.com/goetheinstitut.Kolkata/ to participate in the open discussion.
The discussion will begin after the first screening of the film is over at 8:00 pm IST on 12 August 2020.
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You can ask questions by writing in the 'comment' section while the live stream of the discussion is being broadcast.
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