The school is on fire and we know why
Coming-of-age, Drama, 25 mins.
Synopsis:
Rita is a silent observer of the injustices that take place every day at her school. To document these incidents, she breaks into the school at night, photographs the scenes and turns them into artistic collages. When her activist classmate Raquel catches her in the act one night, the two join forces in a final attempt to expose the power struggles at their school.
- Project Team: Janina Lutter and Wiebke Ehrhard
- Semester: Bachelor's Project, 7th semester, 2022
- Supervision: Prof. Thomas Lauterbach and Wolfram Gruss
Cast:
Rita: Joana Taskiran
Raquel: Luna Kuse
Night watchman: Maximilian Kleist
Crew list:
Director & Screenplay – Janina Lutter
Production – Paul Galli
Director of Photography – Wiebke Ehrhard
1st Camera Assistant – Johannes Tran
2nd Camera Assistant – Charlotte Paulsen, Lukas Hauf
Gaffer – Marius Kast
Best Girl – Fabienne Schweers
Electricians – Manuel Schmitt, Jannic Sabo, Maxim Kuznetsov, Gabor Baumgarter, Lukas König, Jan Tillmanns
Sound Mixer – Jelle Sahmkow
Sound Assistant – Johanna Best, Lenny Glossner, Philemon Gerbeth
Set Design – Clara Dörholt
Set Design Assistants – Larissa Keller, Michelle Frey, Noreen Erkardas
Costume & Make-up Artist – Rosa Galli
Costume & Make-up Assistant – Sofia Scheiner
Set Manager – Regina Grimm
Assistant Director / Script & Continuity – Clara Scheiner, Stefanie Barth
Stunt Coordinator – Maxim Kuznetsov
Catering – Claudia Galli, Fabienne Schweers
Editing – Janina Lutter
Original Score – Philipp Bodor
Colour Grading – Lukas Hauf
VFX – David Kaiser
Sound Edit – Tim Rohde
Foley and Sound Design – Paul Fleck
Sound Design – Philipp Bodor
Poster, credits and title design – Paul Galli
“The School is on Fire and We Know Why” is our graduation film at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. In it, I look back on my own school days and tell the story of a character whose needs and problems were very similar to my own at the time. Just like Rita, I witnessed bullying whilst at school and was complicit in it by failing to intervene. The fear of becoming a victim myself was simply too great.
The role of bystanders in bullying is rarely explored in films. That is precisely why I wanted to give Rita’s emotional world a place in the film. She documents the stories of those who are bullied, exploited and oppressed on the scribbled-on cubicles of the school toilet. These are stories that burn through school life like holes in a fire and affect everyone who looks away.”
The film premiered at the Landshut Short Film Festival and was nominated for the D-A-CH competition. It has been screened nationally and internationally, for example at Filmfest Dresden, the Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival, Lichter Filmfest Frankfurt, Filmz Mainz, Alpinale in Austria, LesGaiCineMad in Madrid and CINEMAGIC in Ireland. It won the‘Deutscher Jugendfilmpreis’ at the Bundes.Festival. Film and the ‘Best Student Film’ award at the Blue Sea Film Festival in Finland.
