Status: 15.01.2024, 18:07 PM
By: Magnus Reitinger
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In July 2019, the Agenda cinema in Weilheim began with the documentary "Fair Traders". © Reck Filmproduktion Zurich
Award-winning films, often controversial topics and top-class guests with whom you can talk about them: Once a month, Weilheim's Agenda 21 invites you to a cinema evening. The series, which was founded five years ago, is a real story of encouragement.
Weilheim – The titles of the films that have been shown in this series so far already reveal what the Weilheim Agenda cinema is all about: They are called, for example, "Different Food", "The Wild Forest" or "Bikes vs Cars", it was about "Our Seeds", the "Market-Oriented Man" or "Life without Energy Costs". But touching works such as the crisis comedy "The Wedding Tailor of Athens" or the Oscar-winning drama "The Father", which deals with dementia, have also been shown here.
It deals with topics that the Agenda Working Groups deal with
"Films that encourage us to actively participate in shaping our future in a fair and sustainable way": This is how the organizers describe what they bring to the screen of the Starlight cinema in Weilheim once a month. The strips, often award-winning documentaries, deal with topics that the ten working groups of Weilheim's Agenda 21 deal with, from "One World" to "Energy – Climate – Environment", "Food & Food" or "Mobility and Transport" to "Senior Citizens". In short, as Anneliese Back, one of the initiators of Agenda Cinema, explains, it is about "topics that interest us – and that should also interest others".
To date, 36 films have been screened in the series, which began in July 2019. With the exception of the Corona breaks, there was a screening almost every month. The appointment is usually the second Tuesday of the month. Anneliese Back, Claudia Hanke and Heiner Putzier select the productions together, researching press reports and information from distributors. Then they look for speakers on the respective topic, because each screening is followed by a 20 to 30-minute film discussion. In most cases, top-class experts from relevant social or environmental initiatives come to the event, but the directors themselves have also sometimes already arrived. Finding the right people to talk to is "sometimes time-consuming," reports Hanke, "but I enjoy it, and I also like getting to know new people."
Often "really great discussions" at the film talks
The film discussions are "always exciting", says Back, and often there are "really great discussions", both about the film itself and about its topic – debates that are sometimes continued afterwards in a restaurant. The fees that the Agenda team offers to the speakers usually flow into the projects of their organizations, Hanke knows.
The Agenda doesn't have to pay anything for the rental of the films, Starlight operator Georg Werner takes care of that and also bears the costs for it. In return, he is left with the income from the usually ten euros entrance fee. Supporting the cinema with its approximately 100 seats was an additional incentive for Hanke and Back to found the Agenda film series five years ago. Although there were also evenings with only ten or 20 guests, the overall number of visitors had "developed very well", the activists reported. At the most recent Agenda cinema with the Wadden Sea documentary "The Breath of the Sea", the cinema was a good two-thirds full. "There are always a lot of people coming," Werner confirms – and that's not the only reason why he thinks the Agenda series is "great". He also likes the program. He can always rely on what the Agenda team proposes.
The series continues on February 13
Back, Hanke and Putzier also ensure a good response by preparing informative posters and distributing them in the city, doing press work and writing to numerous interested parties by e-mail. It is the wish of the initiators for the future that so many people and also new faces continue to be interested in the special topics, films and discussion partners of Agenda Cinema. The next opportunity to visit the Agenda cinema at Starlight is on February 13, when "Holy Shit" will be about the question of whether excrement can save the world.
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The next films at the Agenda cinema in Weilheim
"Can our excrement save the world?" This question is explored in the film "Holy Shit", which can be seen on Tuesday, February 13, at 19:30 p.m. in the Agenda-Kino series at Starlight Weilheim. Human excrement should not be seen as waste, but as a resource, according to the much-praised documentary from 2023 – this is "a key issue in terms of climate protection". The subsequent film discussion will be attended by actors from the "Humusinitiative Oberland".
On Tuesday, March 12, 19:30 p.m., the documentary "Das Kombinat" will follow, which accompanies the "Kartoffelkombinat" from Munich over nine years on its journey from the idealistic idea to the largest solidarity-based agriculture in Germany. Info about the Agenda Cinema: www.weilheimeragenda21.de.