DOK.fest München

‘The series by Lisa Maria Hagen and Hauke Wendler is the psychogram of a party whose greatest strength was also its greatest weakness: the joy of controversy, which quickly led to self-demonisation and ultimately to a carnage. (…) 45 years after its foundation, the Greens present themselves above all as a party of frozen disputes and counter-positions that have been brushed aside. This is not meant to sound cynical, but: a bag of paint would do the Greens some good again.’
(Christian Buß, Der Spiegel)

‘Green Party elite relentlessly criticise themselves in ZDF documentary: (…) In a new ZDF three-parter, well-known party figures focus on self-criticism instead of self-praise. Joschka Fischer, Annalena Baerbock, Felix Banaszak and Ricarda Lang, among others, have their say.’
(Franziska Wenzlick, Münchner Merkur)

‘The Greens tell their own story here – sparingly and pointedly commented on by the filmmakers. (…) The narrative principle of self-examination has the great advantage that the centrifugal forces of the party become almost physically tangible in the original soundtrack of so-called fundies and realos (…) Compared to the TV standards of these days, it is pleasant that the audience not only has scraps of sound flying around their ears, but that the contemporary witnesses can roll out a thought in two or three complete sentences.’
(Roman Deininger, Süddeutsche Zeitung)

“The ZDF political programme ‘Frontal’ shows a documentary series on the self-image of the Greens that is well worth seeing. (…) Hauke Wendler and Lisa Maria Hagen give an entire party the opportunity for a thoroughly self-critical reflection.”
(Thorsten Wahl, Berliner Zeitung)

‘The third episode also shows that a line can be drawn from Springer’s anti-68 campaign to later reporting. After entering the Bundestag in 1983, there were attacks characterised by contempt in parliament, in the media and, to put it simply, on the street. Former Federal Executive Committee spokesperson Lukas Beckmann said in an interview: ‘Irrespective of the political opposition in parliament, we had very strong resistance from radical right-wing groups (…). This is an important, previously under-recognised aspect that Wendler and Hagen highlight here.’
(René Martens, Das Altpapier, column, MDR)

‘‘The Greens have changed Germany – and themselves,’ says the last few minutes of the ZDF three-part documentary, which takes a very close look at the ‘rise and crisis’ of the party. The filmmakers address admonishing words to the people they have accompanied and interviewed over the past weeks and months: ‘If the party forgets what it once stood for, it becomes dispensable – as an imposition on politics and the country as a whole. Because democracy needs that too.’
(Timo Schillinger, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger)

‘The series shows an exciting, multi-layered picture of the German party landscape that goes far beyond the Greens.’
(DOK.fest Munich)

THE GREENS –
RISE AND CRISIS OF A GERMAN PARTY –

Written and directed by
Hauke Wendler and
Lisa Maria Hagen

Film Editor:
Sigrid Sveistrup
Stephan Sautter

Camera:
Boris Mahlau
Lisa Maria Hagen
René Munder
Jonny Müller-Goldenstedt

Sound:
Torsten Reimers
Robert Soldan
Bastian Seidel

Archive Research:
Andrea Pittlik

Editing assistance:
Lukas Hinsch

Graphic Design:
Georg Krefeld

Sound Design:
Malte Bruhn (Tonik Studio)

Speaker:
Christine Hegeler

Music Composer:
Taco van Hettinga

Music Consultant:
Martin Hossbach

Sound Mixing:
Malte Bruhn (Tonik Studio)

Color Grading:
Andreas Piecha

Production Management:
Tilo Gläßer (ZDF)

Commissioning Editos:
Christian Rohde and
Karin Schilling (ZDF)

Editorial Board:
Ilka Brecht (ZDF)

Executive Producer:
Hauke Wendler

A Production by
OTHER PEOPLE pictures

on behalf of
ZDF Frontal