THE SILENT REVOLUTION (DAS SCHWEIGENDE KLASSENZIMMER)

Germany | 2018 | Drama | German, Russian with English Subtitles | PG

Director: Lars Kraume

Theo (Scheicher) and Kurt (Gramenz) are two teenage boys who, upon traveling to West Berlin to visit the grave of Kurt’s grandfather, a former SS officer, stumble upon a cinema newsreel about the Hungarian uprising. Together, they persuade their East German classmates to participate in a silent protest within the classroom as a way to commemorate the victims of the violent uprising. An investigation led by the headmaster (Lukas), the Education Board (Triebel), and the Education Minister (Klaubner) forms in an attempt to figure out which students are responsible for spreading Western propaganda in the East. The risk rises when students are given a week to reveal the identity of those responsible, or everyone will be banned from ever being able to graduate within all of East Germany..

Deftly weaving together threads of political tension, adolescent rebellion, and institutional menace, Kraume asks us to consider the connection between a nation’s identity and its influence on the identities of its young people, who are just beginning to question their place in society.

“[A] solid, good-looking piece of filmmaking which is elevated by a clutch of strong performances from the young cast.” (Wendy Ide, Screen Daily)

Winner of 5 international awards