Carol Murphy talks to director Hans Weingartner about shooting digital, improvisation, and the picture of a world in crisis in his guerrilla feature film The Edukators.

Jan and Peter are politically conscious anti-capitalist demonstrators who secretly stalk the homes of the uber rich in Berlin, break in, rearrange the furniture and then leave. On principal they don't steal anything. They are 'The Educators', idealistic, ritualistic and non-violent terrorists who exists in a macro sub-culture, only recognisable through the pyramids of furniture they leave in their wake and the warnings they pin to the walls.

Peter's girlfriend Jule has another secret. Driving uninsured, she crashed into the car of a rich businessman named Hardenberg. Lumbered with lifelong debt she moves into Peter and Jan's squat when she loses her job and her apartment. When Peter goes on holiday Jan tells Jule about their nocturnal activities and together they recklessly break into Hardenberg's house for a capricious bout of 'edukating' where they also act upon their impulsive attraction to one another. However, they are forced to return to the house the following night when Jule realises her mobile phone is missing only to be surprised by the arrival of Hardenberg. They call Jan and the gang of three impetuously decide that kidnapping is the only solution.

Just like the gang of three, Weingartner acted upon the exigency of his situation and shot The Educators on hand held digital video, with a crew of seven and without extraneous lighting. With a wonderful opening sequence which quotes the opening scenes in the likes of Michael Mann's Manhunter, Weingartner has managed to create a film about youthful idealistic desire and solidarity within a ménage à trois which harks back to the pleasures of Truffaut's Jules et Jim and Godard's Band a Part. At times the film is at risk of becoming a vehicle for the anti capitalist cause, as all four discuss 'freedom' asopposed to being a 'prisoner of your own possessions'. However, the playful visual and narrative dialectic is sustained primarily through the strength of the script and the wonderful improvisations of the four main characters played by Daniel Brühl (last seen in Goodbye Lenin), Julia Jentsch, Stipe Erceg and Burghart Klaussner.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 103