Documentary, D 2011, DCP 2k flat & DigiBeta, 65 Min.

KINDER. Fernab jeder soziologischen Studie, der Alltag in einem Kinderheim. Marvin, zehn Jahre, kehrt zu seiner Mutter und der jüngeren Schwester zurück. Wie kann das Familienleben fortgesetzt werden?

KIDS. As the Sun’s rays stream through the palatial Bavarian woods, four young boys dart among the trees, engrossed in a joyful game of hide-and-seek. These brief moments of innocent abandon provide a stark contrast to the reality of their lives in a German children’s home, which is rife with aggressive teasing, loneliness, and unfocused anger. First-time filmmaker Bettina Büttner spent three months observing a selection of interned boys, capturing them in moments of startling candor. Intrigued by the preternaturally thoughtful 10-year-old Marvin, she continues to follow him after he returns home, where he tries to fit in among the family who left him scarred. Shot in crisp black-and-white, KIDS expresses the indelibility of a dysfunctional childhood and the resilience of a young mind.

Author & Director: BETTINA BÜTTNER
Cinematography: EDUARD STÜRMER
Editing: EDUARD STÜRMER, BETTINA BÜTTNER
Sound Design & Mixing: CORNELIA BÖHM
Color Grading: EDUARD STÜRMER

Producer: BETTINA BÜTTNER
Co-Producer: EDUARD STÜRMER
Production Company: KARLSRUHE UNIVERSITY OF ARTS AND DESIGN, BÜTTNER & STÜRMER (co-production)

REVIEWS
“There’s a great impressionistic black- and-white film called ‘Kinder’, which was about German boys, maybe 6- to 10-year-old kids. These kids totally forgot the camera was there and it caught some intense moments of childhood.”
Darren Aronofsky, NYtimes.com, November 2011

“Ein Film mit einer reifen, achtenden Teilnahme, welche das glasklare Bild des Missglücks, des Nichtgelingens von Heimerziehung wie Familienleben, an diesen Kindern zeigt, ohne Netz und ohne Boden. Ohne Sensation.”
Thomas Heise, film.hfg-karlsruhe.de, Mai 2011

“Ein starker, berührender, bedrückender Film.”
Ralf Schenk, berliner-zeitung.de, März 2011

“Ungewöhnlich und erfrischend.”
Julia Schweinberger, taz.de, März 2011

“Le cinéma de Bettina Büttner n’a rien à voir avec la télé-réalité, où l’on résout toutes les peines par des aveux, à la manière des tribunaux ou des gendarmeries.”
asketoner, fromafrog.blogspot.com, März 2011

AWARDS
Prix-Regard-Social at the film festival “Traces de Vies” 2011, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Nominated for the Margaret-Mead-Filmmaker-Award 2011, New York, USA

SCREENINGS (Selection)
Cinéma du Réel 2011, Paris, France (world premiere)
Traces de Vies 2011, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Kollektiv, Kollektiv, Münchner Kammerspiele, Munich, Germany, 2011
Margaret Mead Filmfestival, New York, USA, 2011 (U.S. premiere)
RIDM – Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal 2011, Montréal, Canada
MiradasDoc International Documentary Film Festival, Guía de Isora, Spain, 2011
Crossing Europe 2012, Linz, Austria
DOXA Filmfestival 2012, Vancouver, Canada
Dokfilmwoche Hamburg, Germany, 2012
“Werkstattgespräch: Dokumentarisches Erzählen”, Filmarche, Berlin, Germany, 2011
“Regards croisés sur l’enfance et la famille”, University Aix-Marseille, France, 2014