Mr. Siebler, novels or biographies are often filmed, but how did you get the idea of making a film about basic rights?
I’d already dealt with the subject of the individual, the community and the state in my theatre work. After watching Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “The Decalogue” and the “Three Colours trilogy”, I started looking for a theme for Germany which would suit that kind of constructivist form. And I found what I needed in the Basic Law, or more precisely in the first 19 articles, the basic rights. Then when I discovered that I, and many of the people I know, have only a fragmentary knowledge of the basic rules of our democracy, that’s when the idea was born: a film project about the search for the ideals and the reality of the democratic constitutional order in Germany.
How can you turn articles of the constitution into exciting film material?
Well, to begin with they’re simply the stuff that dreams are made of. Together with several partners, I launched a competition for writers. Their task was to write a screenplay on one of the first 19 articles of the Basic Law lasting a maximum of ten minutes. There were over 400 entries from which I and a jury chose the 19 stories for the film. Our aim was to gather as broad a spectrum of stories and genres as possible. In our opinion, variety was the criterion most likely to convey a democratic approach. The key was to convey many different perspectives with a great diversity of means and to seek confrontation with the unfamiliar. This was complemented by the actual filming process, with the directors interpreting the material and the casting of the characters who breathed dramatic life into the scripts.
At total of 149 minutes on basic rights: what’s the message of your film?
The film as a whole reflects a major part of the Basic Law. I wanted to emphasize four points in particular. First, the Federal Republic is a democratic and social federal state. Second, all state authority is derived from the people. It is exercised by the people through elections and other votes and through specific legislative, executive, and judicial bodies. Third, the legislature is bound by the constitutional order, the executive and the judiciary are bound by law and justice. Fourth, all Germans have the right to resist any person seeking to abolish this constitutional order, if no other remedy is available.
How did working on GG 19 influence your view of basic rights?
I think our Basic Law is a valuable asset that deserves everyone’s attention. The work on GG 19 strongly influenced my perception with regard to the yawning gap between democratic constitutional order and reality. I discovered that most citizens are unfamiliar with the Basic Law. Many people are unaware of the rights and duties resulting from it. The conversations during and after the eight years of work on GG 19 have intensified my demands for more personal responsibility on the part of citizens, for more education and a greater awareness of social structures.
Interview: Oliver Sefrin
