Sonderveranstaltungen
You are considering showing THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS to your class. This page answers the questions teachers actually ask us — including the awkward ones.
“Addiction is when you have something, and then you want to have it again, badly.”
Adrian Wachter, 7 years old
What is the film about?
Adrian is seven. His mother Helga loves him more than anything, and she is addicted to heroin. The film tells one year of that childhood from the child’s point of view: for Adrian life is an adventure, because his mother finds a fairy-tale explanation for everything that might otherwise seem strange. Only gradually does the audience see what the child cannot yet make sense of.
Director Adrian Goiginger is telling his own story. This is not an educational film about drugs, but a film about a mother-and-child relationship under conditions that really exist in Austria.
What age is the film suitable for?
The Austrian Youth Media Commission has rated the film for audiences aged 14 and over and particularly recommends it for young people from the 8th grade upwards. It was awarded the rating “especially valuable”.
The Austrian Ministry of Education has recommended screening the film as part of school teaching (decree of 2017, in German).
When is this film the wrong choice?
We would rather say so beforehand than afterwards:
- Below the 8th grade. Not because of individual images, but because the film asks you to hold an ambivalence that takes a certain maturity: the mother is loving and she fails.
- Without time for a discussion afterwards. The film does not end with a solution. Squeezing it in between two lessons leaves the class alone with it.
- If you are looking for a prevention film. There is no message along the lines of “don’t take drugs”. Anyone who needs that is better served by other material.
What if students in my class are affected themselves?
Count on it — addiction in the family is more common than people assume and is rarely talked about. That is exactly why the film often has such an effect. But it can also hit home.
What has proved useful: let the class know in advance what the film is about, and that they may leave during the screening. And have someone in the school they can turn to afterwards — school psychologist or counselling teacher. If you wish, we can bring along a specialist from addiction counselling.
How does a school screening work?
Screening and discussion, together about three lessons: 103 minutes of film, followed by roughly 45 minutes of discussion. That fits into one morning without rushing.
Producer Wolfgang Ritzberger comes in person for the discussion. He also works as a media trainer for the non-profit organisation Digitaler Kompass and stands in front of classes in around sixty schools a year — on media literacy, not on this film. What he brings with him is the routine: he knows the questions that come, and the silence that sometimes comes first, and he can hold both.
On request we also bring a specialist from addiction counselling.
What does it cost?
That depends on whether you screen at school or in a cinema, how many students take part and whether travel is involved. Tell us what is possible at your end and you will get a concrete figure back — not a price list and not a call-back appointment.
Money should not be the reason it fails. If the budget is small or there is none at all, simply say so. We have always found a solution so far, and we have never turned a class away.
How do we get the film?
We provide you with a streaming link so you can show the film at your school. We are also happy to arrange a cinema screening on request.
The film is available in its German original version, with subtitled versions in several languages, among them English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Korean. For international schools and language classes this is often the decisive point — just tell us which version you need.
Is there teaching material?
Dedicated teaching material was developed for the film, with tasks for preparation and follow-up. Download (in German).
Which subjects does the film fit?
German, history and social studies, civic education, psychology and philosophy, media education, religion and ethics.
Topics for follow-up work: alcohol and drugs, addiction, behavioural addiction, depression, childhood, imagination, faith, teenage pregnancy, single parenthood, family, parenthood, responsibility, society, marginalised groups, isolation, emptiness, fear.
What does the commission say?
THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS left the commission deeply impressed. Starting with a protagonist who, in spite of his very young age, carries the film with his acting abilities and performs in outstanding harmony with the equally accomplished mother character. (…) The commission also spoke of a successful balance between tragedy and comedy, and of “the whole film being carried by love”.
From the reasoning for the rating “especially valuable”
How do we enquire?
An e-mail is enough. It helps if you tell us right away: grade level, number of students, preferred period, and whether you would like the director or an addiction counsellor to attend. We will come back to you with a concrete proposal.
office@ritzlfilm.at +43 664 300 43 72
THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS by Adrian Goiginger
Austria 2017 | 103 minutes | German original version
Theatrical release: 8 September 2017