A look at the life of a group of grade 6 students and their teacher in a medium sized town in the middle of Germany's industrial heartland. It sounded a bit dull but went along with an open mind to see this during the NZ International Film Festival.
There's no narration and no script. But the cinematography and sound are flawless enough that it feels like you're actually there experiencing life in this town and in Mr Bachmann's class.
It's a fairly personal fly-on-the-wall look at what initially appears to be the slightly unstructured work of a teacher nearing retirement who sometimes struggles with the requirements of educational bureaucracy while doing everything he can to patiently guide his students development of evidence based critical thinking and understanding of the complexities of the wider world without just filling them with academic facts to pass tests. While Mr Bachmann's style appears unstructured, there is clearly a purpose and objective that is being crafted by his gentle but firm wisdom, knowledge and musical skills to establish and build a positive, supportive and educational rapport.
The film makers have sensitively and delicately captured a point-in-time glimpse into the world of a very diverse group of students during a rapidly changing time in their lives. I'd like to thank Mr Bachmann, his students, the parents of the students and the school for allowing this candid and insightful look at their world to be recorded. While this is a long film, it didn't feel like it, and I felt like I had spent a year living in Stadtallendorf, and felt the emotional connection Mr Bachmann had formed with his students who all seemed to have developed a great deal of respect for him during their time in his class. Actually cried at the end of the film when the class left for the Summer to go on with their lives and Mr Bachmann had said goodbye to them.
Would strongly recommend this film to any teacher, or anyone thinking of becoming a teacher, or any parents with children approaching or going through their adolescent years. Hopefully this film will eventually reach a wide audience on international streaming platforms where viewers can pause for 'comfort' breaks.
There's no narration and no script. But the cinematography and sound are flawless enough that it feels like you're actually there experiencing life in this town and in Mr Bachmann's class.
It's a fairly personal fly-on-the-wall look at what initially appears to be the slightly unstructured work of a teacher nearing retirement who sometimes struggles with the requirements of educational bureaucracy while doing everything he can to patiently guide his students development of evidence based critical thinking and understanding of the complexities of the wider world without just filling them with academic facts to pass tests. While Mr Bachmann's style appears unstructured, there is clearly a purpose and objective that is being crafted by his gentle but firm wisdom, knowledge and musical skills to establish and build a positive, supportive and educational rapport.
The film makers have sensitively and delicately captured a point-in-time glimpse into the world of a very diverse group of students during a rapidly changing time in their lives. I'd like to thank Mr Bachmann, his students, the parents of the students and the school for allowing this candid and insightful look at their world to be recorded. While this is a long film, it didn't feel like it, and I felt like I had spent a year living in Stadtallendorf, and felt the emotional connection Mr Bachmann had formed with his students who all seemed to have developed a great deal of respect for him during their time in his class. Actually cried at the end of the film when the class left for the Summer to go on with their lives and Mr Bachmann had said goodbye to them.
Would strongly recommend this film to any teacher, or anyone thinking of becoming a teacher, or any parents with children approaching or going through their adolescent years. Hopefully this film will eventually reach a wide audience on international streaming platforms where viewers can pause for 'comfort' breaks.