The filmmakers
Selection of filmworks 1986 to 2008 by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz
(Unless otherwise indicated, we were both responsible for script and direction, Herdolor Lorenz was responsible for camera and production.)
www.kernfilm.de
2015 Who is saving whom?“ is not just another bank rescue and Euro rescue film. It reveals much more what it is that all the “rescues” hide, right up to the present day tragedy of Greece: The radical alteration of societies. The transformation of private debt into public debt which has been papered over and presented as a “rescue” has not only driven democracy to absurdity.
The rescue policies practiced throughout the EU, not just in Greece, are proven in the film to be a milestone in neo-liberal development which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. Both private and state budgets are being fleeced in favour of the financial world. Social rights are being replaced by the right to debt.
“Who is saving Whom?” shows the beginnings of this development when after 70 years of relative stability the financial world was deregulated. New financial products were invented as derivatives which today dominate the economy. The film demonstrates the usage of and the enormous danger from derivatives. But it also shows the possibilities of defence, as in Iceland, where international capital was not saved, but rather a redistribution from the top to the bottom took place. http://www.whos-saving-whom.org
2012 "The Children from St. Georg - The teenage years": Is there a bigger adventure than seeing kids grow up? Tamina, Mitchel, Freya, Klara and Nevena are 13-to-14-years-old kids in Hamburg, Germany. "5 kids" - not their parents - tell us about their lives and dreams. Mitchels Father is from spain.The documentary follows them for the next 6 years through adolescence.These kids' lives in Hamburg's "problematic" quarter St. Georg, reflects the typical, colourful mixture of nations and religions of this district, the misery of the drug addicts, but also the openness for a new way of life and the atmosphere of tolerance and creativity. We see them grow up and develop. The film shows the kids' experience in this important span of life from their own perspective.To watch kids and grown-ups from an ethnically mixed background, open up and tell us their inner secrets is a fascinating and emotionally attaching experience. www.kindervonstgeorg.de
2011: "Water Makes Money- How private corporations make money with water": 10 to 15 years ago a wave of privatisations of our water supply started, which has been propagating since all over the world. Meanwhile the enduring consequences - such as slums cut off from the access to clean water and dry faucets in London - are sufficiently known. For nowadays no one talks about privatisation, but about business concepts such as private public partnership. The only thing that counts here is the capital which 'creates' the infrastructure through loans. However, in these days of limited public finances, budgeting competence is at least as important as the technical mastering of water management. Many communities however are risking to be cheated by superior corporate groups. The movie „Water Makes Money" is a documentary about the biggest water companies and the resistance against them. It shows how 'money printing machines' of the companies work, especially in France and in German cities like Berlin or Braunschweig. However, „Water Makes Money" also encourages and shows the lessons the affected municipalities have learned from the dominance of Veolia & Co.: Water in public hands is necessary and possible! www.watermakesmoney.org
2007: "David vs. Goliath" 22 min. German independent documentary on Felton's efforts to acquire it's water system from German multinational RWE and it's US Subsidiary American Water. Narrated by Paul Glaser.
2007: "Rail up for sale" A grass roots film about the privatization of the german railway with examples of England - financed by those who want to see it, want to show it, and those who need this tool for clarification. 72 min. www.bahnuntermhammer.de
2005: "H2O for sale" The privatization of a human necessity 58 min. The film shows against the background of English experiences what are the results of the privatization of the blue gold in Europe. NDR supported by MSH. http://h20upforsale.com
2000 - 2004: "Children of St. Georg - Part 1" 93 min. A logterm documentary by Herdolor Lorenz. Filmförderung Hamburg, Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film, ARTE/NDR. Award „Exceptionally valuable" by FBW
2003: "The blue gold in the Garden of Eden" 58 min. A film by Leslie Franke. Festivals: Ekotop Bratislava, Filmfest Florenz, Oekomedia Freiburg, ECOmove Berlin, Film21, Filmfestival für Nachhaltigkeit, Zürich, Green International Film Festival Taipei in Taiwan, Umweltfilmtage Bremen, festival.cinefeuille, Festival Slowakia. „Europäischer Fernsehpreis 2003" of the 20. ÖKOMEDIA in Freiburg, " Prize of Zavody Slovenskeho Narodneho povstania,Inc." des 30. Int. Festivals EKOTOPFILM Bratislava, Slovakia, "Laudable Mention", ECOmove, Festival of Internat.Enviromental Films, Berlin 2003, http://blauesgoldimgarteneden.de
2000: "The better you are, the higher you get", Julian, 6 years old. 30 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz
1995-1999: "It breaks my heart" Two Bosnian refugee families are looking for a new home 81/60 min. long term documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz 1995-99. MunichDocumentary filmfestival 2000, Grand Prix of the VI. Krakow Ethnographic Filmfestival 09/2000, International Program of Moscow Human Rights Film Festivals "Stalker" 12/2000. International Filmfestival Istanbul 11/2001
1998: "For us school is like the beginning of a new day" 50 min. documentary about Roma- and Sinti-children in German and Netherland schools by Leslie Franke
1997: "Deportation: Bosnian refugees out!" 30 min. report by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz
1994: "Stories from Mastrosowo" 5 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Oleg Morosow
1994: "Trakehnen German again?" 45 min. report by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz
1993: "The taboo of freedom - Jews and nazis in Lithuania" 30 min. documentary by Herdolor Lorenz
1992: "Open outlook" 10 min. short documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz
1991: "Inter times" 60 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Sabine von Kessel
1991: "Departure to the holy land - Jewish people on their way to Israel" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke, Herdolor Lorenz and J.Heppekausen
1990: "Forward to the past- Will Kaliningrad be Königsberg again?" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz
1989: "Get out of the USSR - Lithuania in departure" 35 min. report by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz
1988: "Perestroika in the factory" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz
1988: "Tanja, A Russian woman from Lipezk" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz
1986: "Don't ask, don't beg - but fight! Unemployed defend themselves." 35 min. documentary by Leslie Franke, Herdolor Lorenz & Ch. Schubert