Films by Britt Beyer

2023, 86 min
by Britt Beyer

Coal mining has shaped Lusatia for generations. In the GDR it was still an important industrial location but, after the fall of communism, companies shut down and livelihoods were destroyed. With the planned phase out of coal, the region is facing another upheaval. Britt Beyer takes a sensitive look at the people who must deal once again with the collapse of existing structures and points of reference. [38 DOK.fest München, Ina Borrmann]

Germany 2011, 84 min
by Britt Beyer

BECOMING GERMAN is a documentary about an integration course at a Berlin adult education centre. The language courses have an educational subtext: they not only teach migrants how to speak, read and write in German, but also how to behave in Germany. The film accompanies several students over a nine-month period. While following the protagonists in their daily lives, we see whether or not the ideal image of Germany portrayed in the classroom corresponds to the students’ reality. Along the way, we marvel at situations full of absurd comedy and existential tragedy.