Everyone is confronted with them almost every day, but nobody really wants to deal with them. We are not talking about coronaviruses, but about prejudices that are perhaps less acutely anchored in the public consciousness, but no less harmful than the pathogens. The two filmmakers Christina Schmideder and Hilarija Locmele are convinced that dealing with prejudices is good, important and urgently needed. For one week they led the workshop “Meet your prejudice” with twelve pupils from the ninth and tenth grades at the Franz-Marc-Gymnasium in Markt Schwaben.
Students from the Franz-Marc-Gymnasium who took part in the “Meet your prejudice” workshop. The managers Christina Schmideder and Hilarija Locmele (red hat) can be seen in the background.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Schmideder and Locmele remained true to their craft during the implementation of the project and put the students in front of the camera – where they should face their own possible resentment in direct contact: The young people conducted three interviews with members of groups, often with prejudices have to fight: with Patrice Grießmeier, a drag queen, also called “Eve”; with the musician Laura Glauber, who wears an orthoprosthesis; and with Radoslav Ganev, founder of the “Rom Anity” association, who campaigns for the visibility of Sinti and Roma in Germany.
Some young people were very touched by the encounters
Schmideder, who is also an actress, and Locmele, who studies at the Munich Film School, came up with the idea for this workshop through another project. “Together under the hashtag # ichbinschön we have already dealt with the self-image of young girls and women and with the harmfulness of ideals of beauty. But then we wanted to deal with the topic of prejudice in a more general way, which is how this workshop came about,” says Schmideder and adds: “The best thing is to see when something really happens during these encounters, some participants were very touched.”
Lots of weird looks: the musician Laura Glauber wears an orthoprosthesis.
(Photo: private)
During the interviews, the students asked self-made questions – from “the or that Nutella?” as an icebreaker to “how was it for you when you came out as queer to your parents?”. The workshop leaders emphasize how impressed they were with the high school students: “We are very pleasantly surprised! Everyone was very motivated and committed to the matter. For standing in front of the camera for the first time and coming up with the questions themselves they did it really well, “says Schmideder happily. Locmele can only agree and adds that “it’s really difficult not only to do something like that, but to watch the videos of yourself again afterwards”.
The social relationships of the participants turn out to be very modern
Because they have to. Not only for the final feedback round, but also because it is part of the workshop to distribute the videos on social media wherever they are prosinn_films can be seen on Facebook and Instagram. Unfortunately, there is already a homophobic comment under the Patrice interview – which of course led to consternation in the workshop.
The social relationships of the students themselves are as modern as the media. Clara Wulff and Emily Demmer, for example, report that there are now more queer than non-queer people in their circle of friends. In any case, the impression arises that those who have taken part in this workshop are those who need it the least. Nonetheless, when asked whether taking part brought anything to them, Julian Müller replied immediately: “Definitely!” Prejudices, even if it is out of sheer not-knowing-better, are after all present in everyone. Clara Wulff also thinks that she would be more willing to “stand up not only for herself, but also for other people in public space”.
Petition started for unisex toilets at the school
Patrice “Eve” Grießmeier in front of the ladies’ room in the Franz-Marc-Gymnasium.
(Photo: private)
Overall, both leaders and the twelve participants found the workshop enriching – even if they emphasize that it is of course far from over: Schmideder and Locmele would like to be able to offer this workshop regularly at different schools. And the students also think that there is still a lot to do. Sabine Lippl, for example, complains that at the grammar school in Markt Schwaben, despite the label “School without Racism – School with Courage”, too little is being done for integration and the fight against prejudice, for which she reaps approving murmurs and nods of head in the workshop. In the meantime, however, the students have started a petition to introduce unisex toilets at the school.
It may be a while before there is a vaccine against prejudice. Fortunately, there is no shortage of ideas and zest for action, which one can still do in the meantime.
The workshop was funded by the “Interactive Network”, DOK.fest Munich, and was carried out in cooperation with DOK.education.