Medialuna

FESTIVALS & AWARDS

Berlin Intl. Film Festival (DIALOGUE EN PERSPECTIVE PRIZE), Montreal (In Competition)

 

 

SYNOPSIS

THE EDUCATION is a film about Jan, a young man, usually reserved, shy and unambitious.  He is in his last year of training at the “Veblo AG”, a medium sized company and there’s no guarantee for a job at the end of his training. Jan’s mother, a staunch union organiser at the company, can’t stop management from hiring more and more temp workers and so Jan is left in charge of his own luck.
Stuck in an underperforming department, Jan does everything he can to please his boss Tobias and when Tobias asks Jan to help him solve the department’s problems, Jan agrees. At the same time Jenny, another co-worker, catches Jan’s eye and young love blooms.  Their romance, however, is stifled by Jenny’s temp-worker status and insecurities about their future.
Frustrated and stressed, Jan seeks solace in fast cars and retail therapy but when Jan’s mother is laid off under false pretences, Jan starts to realise the true impact of his decisions and the consequences of his actions.

 

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

I keep asking myself if there actually is a real possibility to lead a life, which is both self-determined and collectively oriented. Which circumstances and structures make us do what we do? What and how have we been taught, what does have an effect on us – consciously or subconsciously? The issues economics, work, and competition are of particular interest to me, especially their impact on the various aspects of an individual’s life.

DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY

Dirk Lütter, born 1970 in Neuß, first studied cinematography at SFOF in Berlin, then directing at the Academy of media Art Cologne and script writing at the dffb, Berlin. Since 2000 Dirk worked as DoP on numerous films and he won a lot of recognition with his short films (New Berlin Film Award for HEROES, 2005; First Steps Award for THE INVISIBLE HAND, 2007). THE EDUCATION is his feature film debut as director.

 

 

CAST

Jan: Joseph K. Bundschuh
Jenny: Anke Retzlaff
Tobias: Stefan Rudolf
Susanne: Dagmar Sachse
Mother: Anja Beatrice Kaul
Father: Frank Voß

CREW

Writer/ Director: Dirk Lütter
Cinematography: Henner Besuch
Editor: Antonia Fenn
First Assistant Director: Vanessa Ossa
Casting: Lale Nalpantoglu
Set Design: Christiane Krumwiede
Costume: Manfred Schneider
Make-up: Bernadette Reschberger
Sound: Andreas Hildebrandt
Sound Design & Mix: Falk Möller
Score: Falko Brocksieper, Lars Niekisch
Production Manager: Anja Firmenich
Line Producer: Heino Herrenbrück

Producer: Titus Kreyenberg

Production company: unafilm in co-production with WDR, supportd by Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Original Title: Die Ausbildung / HD / 1:1,85 / Colour / 85 min / 5.1 Digital / HDCam available / German with English subtitles / Germany 2011