The war and me
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The war and me |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany , Poland , Great Britain |
| original language | German , Norwegian , French , English , Polish , Czech , Russian |
| year | 2019 |
| Production company |
LOOKSfilm , SWR , arte , BBC , Momakin , Toto Studio |
| length | approx. 25 minutes |
| Episodes | 8 in 1 season ( list ) |
| genre | Drama , history , war , children's and youth programs |
| Director | Matthias Zirzow |
| idea | Matthias Zirzow, Maarten van der Duin , Ramona Bergmann |
| production | Gunnar Dedio |
| music |
Moritz Denis , Steffen Keinke , Eike Hosenfeld |
| camera | Bernhard Wagner |
| First broadcast | August 31, 2019 on KiKA |
| occupation | |
Der Krieg und Ich is a children's and youth series from 2019 that shows the Second World War in eight episodes from the perspective of children from different European countries. The European co-production started in Germany on August 31, 2019 on the children's channel KiKA , in Poland the series was broadcast under the title Wojna i ja and on arte under the title Les enfants courage from September 1. The international festival title is Kids of Courage .
The series is accompanied by extensive information material, which the broadcasters make available on their websites, and a traveling exhibition that begins in Berlin and is to be seen in various European cities.
action
The series tells the stories of children who grew up during the Nazi era and who experienced World War II. There are children from Germany, Poland, France, Great Britain, Norway, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia . Ten-year-old Romek from Poland tries to save his family from the ghetto; Justus from Germany, a fifteen-year-old, experiences the horrors of war as a child soldier on the so-called home front and thirteen-year-old Sandrine from France helps hide German refugees. The story begins with Anton from Germany in 1938 and ends with the story of Eva from Czechoslovakia at the end of the war in spring 1945.
Each episode consists of several narrative levels: In play scenes, the story of a child in war is told as a “hero's journey”. They are flanked by historical recordings from the time of the Second World War, to which children's voices read excerpts from letters or children's diaries or the speaker explains historical connections. In between, scenes from a detailed replica of the locations and the protagonists are faded in. They serve the emotional relief of the young audience. In the scenic representation, situations are taken up and shown in a historical context that children are also familiar with today. This makes the children's fates subjectively comprehensible for the young audience and offers potential for identification. The archive material was selected with scientific support so that it is appropriate for children between eight and twelve years of age.
background
The episodes are largely based on diary entries made by children from various European countries during the National Socialist era. On this basis, eight stories were created that exemplify various aspects of the Second World War.
production
The series was produced under the working title The War and Me - Childhood in World War II by LOOKSfilm , SWR , arte , BBC and the Polish Toto Studio . The Polish film agency Momakin was the executive producer responsible for the miniature world shown in the series.
The development of the series was supported by the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI) and historically by the Leibniz Center for Contemporary Research in Potsdam. In close coordination with a series of studies at the IZI, a narrative style was developed that makes the Second World War in Europe understandable to children from the age of eight from the perspective of children, without being overwhelmed and at the same time historically coherent.
SWR and KiKA provide a comprehensive program to accompany the series on their websites, in which, for example, interviews with contemporary witnesses and teaching material can be accessed. Sascha Feuchert , Head of the Holocaust Literature Unit at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen , took on didactic advice for the supporting program.
occupation
The accompanying texts for all episodes are spoken in the German version by Petra Schmidt-Schaller .
| Ep. | role | actor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anton | Yuri Gayed |
| Greta | Gwendolyn Goebel | |
| father | Florian Lukas | |
| Rudi | Ludger Bökelmann | |
| 2 | Fritjof | Nils Sand Näslund |
| Rikka | Emilie Sand Näslund | |
| Margit (mother) | Marianne Sand | |
| Ivar (father) | Harald Näslund | |
| Uncle Arne | Rune Temte | |
| SS soldier | Thomas Arnold | |
| Soldier Müller | Mike Hoffmann | |
| 3 | Sandrine Morel | Mina Christ |
| Catherine Morel | Marie-Lou Sellem | |
| Pastor Morel | Jean-Luc Bubert | |
| Daniel | Caspar Langer | |
| Deborah | Rosalie Neumeister | |
| David | Finnlay Berger | |
| Major Dubois | Pascal Lalo | |
| courier | Fabian Stumm | |
| 4th | Calum | Ruairidh Harris |
| Paul | Callum Hoy | |
| Fiona (mother) | Kathleen MacInnes |
| Ep. | role | actor |
|---|---|---|
| 4th | Mr. Arthur | Daibhidh Walker |
| 5 | Romek | Adam Halajczyk |
| Schlomo | Hubert Kolodziej | |
| Irena Kaminski | Irena Kaminski | |
| Izak Krakowski | Robert Mika | |
| Helena Krakowski | Birgit Stauber | |
| Henryk (Judenrat) | Bohdan Artur Świderski | |
| 6th | Vera | Ulyana Torkiani |
| Tamara | Christina Chorowska | |
| Misha | Ilya Bultmann | |
| Svetlana Valentinova | Jelena Knyaseva-Schmal | |
| Nazar Kunyanev | Dimitri Bilov | |
| 7th | Justus | Arved Friese |
| Kurt | Anton Petzold | |
| Walter | Elias Eisold | |
| Lieutenant Weber | Thomas M. Meinhardt | |
| Peasant woman | Jutta Wachowiak | |
| 8th | Eve | Natálie Vágnerová |
| Renata | Katerina Coufalová | |
| Tomasz Dolinski | Mateusz Dopieralski | |
| Hertha Kreissner | Monika Oschek | |
| Bertha De Bruyn | Dora Groothof |
Episode list
| No. ( total ) |
No. ( St. ) |
Original title | Summary | First broadcast in Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Anton from Germany | Anton wants to go to the Hitler Youth (HJ) in 1938 because all of his friends are already there. His father doesn't allow him to do that because he doesn't want the Hitler Youth to turn him into a Nazi . When he is finally allowed to join in, he shouldn't meet his girlfriend Greta just because she is Jewish. | 31 Aug 2019 |
| 2 | 2 | Fritjof from Norway | In 1940 Norway was occupied by the Germans and so the war also came in Fritjof's small fishing village. His father goes to war and so Fritjof has to help feed the family. When the boy is locked up because he does not want to give the Germans his fish, his uncle prepares to flee to Sweden. | 31 Aug 2019 |
| 3 | 3 | Sandrine from France | Sandrine is the daughter of the village pastor. She helps him hide Jewish Germans from the Nazis. She has to share her room and her belongings with the refugees. When her father is arrested, the police want her to reveal where the Jews are hiding. Only then will the police release him. | Sept. 1, 2019 |
| 4th | 4th | Calum from Scotland | Calum doesn't want to know anything about the war because he is the reason his father is not with his family; he serves far away in the British Air Force. The boy prefers to steal apples rather than go to school or take part in air raid drills. But then his city is attacked by the German air force. | Sept. 1, 2019 |
| 5 | 5 | Romek from Poland | Romek has to live in a ghetto with his family in Poland . The German soldiers sealed it off, making it a big prison. When he learns that all ghetto residents are to be taken to a labor camp and murdered there, he wants to find a way to escape with his family. His friend Schlomo helps him. | 7th Sept 2019 |
| 6th | 6th | Vera from the Soviet Union | Vera is brought to a children's home from Stalingrad to Kazakhstan in 1942. She feels lost among the other orphans, who all hope to have new parents soon. But Vera firmly believes that her mother is still alive and longs for her. | 7th Sept 2019 |
| 7th | 7th | Justus from Germany | Fifteen-year-old Justus and other boys are supposed to defend a village street against the US Army "down to the last man". He is proud that he is finally allowed to defend Germany as a soldier. But when the real war emerges in the form of an overpowering enemy with tanks, all heroic dreams are broken and he has to decide whether to give the order to attack or to flee. | 8th Sept 2019 |
| 8th | 8th | Eva from Czechoslovakia | When the orphaned girl Eva arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945 , she found her friend Renata there by chance, with whom she had played music in the Theresienstadt concentration camp . But she lost all courage to face life because the conditions in the camp are horrific. Eva tries with all her might to keep her friend alive. The music gives them both hope. | 8th Sept 2019 |
reception
The German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) awarded the series the title “particularly valuable”. According to the jury's statement, the series is "ideally suited for a first encounter of a child audience with historical events without being informed only one-sidedly." The series should be given credit for the fact that it also includes drastic moments such as acts of war, death, Do not just suggest deportation or concentration camps. It nourishes the youthful image archive and increases the ability to judge.
criticism
Manfred Riepe writes in the Catholic film service that the series is a tightrope walk, because the creators wanted to convey the Nazi era in a child-friendly way without trivializing it, but on the other hand they were not allowed to traumatize the children.
Awards
- 2018: Walkiria (silver)
- 2018: Goldener Sparrow (first episode)
- 2019: The White Elephant , children's media award for the best TV production
Nominations
- 2019: International Emmy Kids Award
- 2020: German Audio Film Award
- 2020: Taiwan International Children's Film Festival
- 2020: Grimme Prize
Accompanying traveling exhibition
During the Long Night of the Museums on August 31, 2019, the exhibition The War and Me - Children of War 1939-1945 opened on Dorothea-Schlegel-Platz at the Friedrichstrasse S-Bahn station . The traveling exhibition accompanies the series and consists of several walk-in containers in which the worlds of war children in Europe during the Second World War are interactively conveyed to children aged eight and over.
The themed rooms Anton from Germany, 1939 and Sandrine from France, 1943 show the children's rooms of the protagonists from the first and third episodes of the series, whose stories are made tangible in an interplay of audio-video installations and the possibility of using and touching objects . The theme room Vera from the Soviet Union, 1942 / Children of War on the Run shows the world of Vera and other children on the run based on the sixth episode.
In another container, background information and an accompanying program of discussions with contemporary witnesses, readings, book presentations, interviews, film screenings and lectures are offered.
The traveling exhibition was in Berlin-Mitte until September 6, and from September 14 to November 30 it is in the FEZ Berlin in Wuhlheide . Later it should be seen in other European cities.
References
- Official website ( SWR Children's Network )
- Exhibition (platform berlin eV)
- How children understand the program Der Krieg und ich , reception study by Maya Götz and Andrea Höller ( BR , PDF)
- Accompanying material for the series in the “Knowledge Pool” on planet schule from WDR and SWR
- Trailer of look film on YouTube
- The war and I in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wojenna tragedia oczami dziecka. Serial dokumentalny "Wojna i ja" . In: polaneis.pl, August 31, 2019, accessed September 7, 2019 (Polish).
- ↑ a b Manfred Riepe: The series “The War and I” tells of the fate of the Second World War from the perspective of children and young people. In: Filmdienst . August 30, 2019, accessed September 4, 2019 .
- ↑ Lene Neckel: The war and me. A drama series about World War II and the Holocaust for 8 to 12 year olds. (PDF) In: Televizion. Bayerischer Rundfunk , 2018, accessed on September 10, 2019 .
- ↑ a b The war and me. In: Crew United , accessed September 7, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Childhood in World War II - KiKA shows the premiere of "Der Krieg und Ich" (SWR) from August 31st. Press portal, August 28, 2019, accessed on September 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Maya Götz, Andrea Holler: How children understand the program Der Krieg und Ich. A reception study. (PDF) In: Televizion . Bayerischer Rundfunk , 2018, accessed on September 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Contemporary witnesses. In: Kinderetz. Retrieved September 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Knowledge pool. The war and me. In: Planet School. Retrieved September 10, 2019 .
- ↑ The war and me . In: German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) , accessed on October 2, 2019.
- ↑ The War and Me In: Crew United , accessed October 16, 2019.
- ↑ "Goldener Spatz" for SWR drama series "Der Krieg und Ich". In: Press portal , June 19, 2018, accessed September 1, 2019.
- ^ Children's media award "The White Elephant". In: Filmfest München 2019, accessed on September 1, 2019.
- ↑ 2019 International Emmy® Kids Awards Nominees announced In: International Emmy Awards, accessed October 16, 2019.
- ↑ Nominations // German Audio Film Award. German Audio Film Award, accessed on January 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Nominees of Competition categories at 2020 TICFF. ticff.org, accessed on January 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Nominations for the Grimme Prize. Grimme Prize, accessed January 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Platform eV presents touring exhibition for the series. In: Platform eV Retrieved on September 10, 2019 .
- ↑ exhibition. Concept. In: Platform eV Retrieved on September 10, 2019 .
- ↑ exhibition. Themed rooms. In: Platform eV Retrieved on September 10, 2019 .
- ^ Exhibition "The War and Me. Children of War 1939-1945". The exhibition on the series. In: Kinderetz. August 28, 2019, accessed September 10, 2019 .