Berg Fidel - A School for All

(festival title)
  • Germany Berg Fidel (more)
Germany, 2011, 87 min

Directed by:

Hella Wenders
(more professions)

Plots(1)

David, his little brother Jakob, Anita and Lucas visit the elementary school "Berg Fidel" in Münster. This school takes on every child, no matter what race, religion or handicap.
David wants to become an astronomer, plays the piano virtuously and invents stories and jokes every day. Whenever he needs to concentrate, he turns off his hearing aid. His eyesight is impaired as well. He is suffering from Stickler syndrome. His brother Jakob, who suffers from Down syndrome, cheers up the whole class with his endless showmanship and humor. He would like to become a farmer one day. Anita, a fugitive from Kosovo together with her parents, must take care of her younger brothers, so that she barely has time to learn, let alone hang on to her dream of becoming a top model. Lucas is dyslexic and has problems reading, but he is an expert in auto mechanics and knows all about tuning a car.
They are of mixed age and they all learn together, solve their problems in class councils, support and teach each other. Their school is run by the principle of inclusion. However, after fourth grade, at the age of 10, this extraordinary elementary school experience ends for them, as Berg Fidel cannot lead any further yet. So these children are separated and sent to very different schools, run by very different learning and teaching methods, rather based on exclusion. A decision for life... (Berlinale)

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