Trailer
Year
2011
Length
52, 100 min
Director
Dieter Schumann
Wadan's World
A film about the value of work.
Wismar, 120 km east of Hamburg, 45.000 citizens, the income of every third family depends on Wadan Yards, the only large company in the region. In August 2008 a Russian investor takes over the old German company, the future seems save. Short afterwards the world financial and economical crisis starts somewhere in the US and hits the old Hanseatic city hard, 5.000 jobs are endangered.
A race against time starts. We accompany a group of welders throughout the turbulent months and learn that the loss of work means a lot more then just the loss of income. “If you want to be a shipbuilder you have to be born for it”, says one of the protagonists and points out what counted in this region for ages: being a shipbuilder is a reputable job that is often passed on from generation to generation. Shipbuilding stands for dignity and quality and characterizes the whole coast region.
We accompany the workers, owners and insolvency administrators. We see them fighting for the rescue of the shipyard, against ups and downs, between powerlessness, anger, sadness and hope.
18 months of shooting, 120 hours of material. The crisis stayed an abstract phenomenon to many, but we see what it means for the destiny of these workers. The Wadan Yards sink and reopen with a new owner. Some protagonists go back to the company, but the conditions are a lot worse. We attend the last shift before the insolvency closedown and the first one after reopening.
The film captures, what the crisis leaves behind, the loss affects social values. People are divided in superiors and losers, people with work and without work. “Everything is different now”, says one and he means the lifeless feeling in his chest.
Directed by
Dieter Schumann
Written by
Dieter Schumann
Jochen Wisotzki
Conceptual advisory
Niels Reise
Cinematography
Rainer Maria Schulz
Bernhard Kübel
Peter Priszybil
Michael Lösche
Anne Tomschke
Adrian Stähli
Sound
Rainer Maria Viltz
Arne Papenhagen
Andrea Köster
Editing
Gudrun Steinbrück
Music
Nils Kacirek
Sound Design
Roman Vehlken
Technical Supervisory
Philipp Weigold
Production Manager
Ruth Stegemann
Line Producer
Kathrin Isberner
Producer
Georg Tschurtschenthaler
Executive Producer
Christian Beetz
Dieter Schumann
Sales & distribution
- Press kit
- Press photos
-
„Just in diesem Moment überraschen uns die aus dem Theaterbereich stammenden jungen Regisseure Hans Block und Moritz Riesewieck mit einem erstaunlichen Dokumentarfilm, der seit Monaten Publikum und Kritik auf den wichtigsten Festivals der Welt elektrisiert. Völlig zu Recht: Es ist, als würden einem die Scheuklappen weggerissen, als sähe man das, was sich seit Jahren direkt vor unseren Augen abspielt, zum ersten Mal unverschleiert... eine fesselnde ,Doku noir' mit höchstem Anspruch...Dieser Film müsste an allen Schulen gezeigt werden.“
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
17.05.2018
