Films by David Bernet

Germany 2019, 52 min
by David Bernet

The inauguration of the Barenboim-Said academy in Berlin marked a new phase within the political and educational engagement of musician and pedagogue Daniel Barenboim. BEYOND THE MUSIC portrays this innovative academy whose mission it is to unite humanistic ideals, music and philosophy. Almost 20 years after the founding of the West-Eastern-Divan orchestra, another project of intercultural understanding is derived from the friendship between Barenboim and the Palestinian humanist Edward Said.

Germany 2015, 105 min
by David Bernet

Democracy offers an insight into a hidden world of political struggle for new data protection legislation in the European Union. Euro-MP Jan Philipp Albrecht and EU-Commissioner Viviane Reding attempt the supposedly impossible. They take on a hard-edged apparatus of political power, in which intrigue, success and failure are frequent bedfellows. After two and a half years following the legislative process, the documentary brings complex power structures to life and offers a snapshot of democracy today.

Germany 2011
by Bettina Borgfeld, David Bernet

The ground in Paraguay is perfect for the cultivation of soy. In recent years, countless acres of forest have been chopped down to make room for the growing of this protein-rich bean. The land of a farmer named Geronimo is now completely surrounded by soy plantations. These are generously sprayed with pesticides - poison that only the genetically modified soy plants are immune to. Unfortunately, the pesticides spread farther than the boundaries of the soy fields. So not only is there less and less land for the campesinos, or local farmers like Geronimo, but it also becomes impossible for them to cultivate healthy crops themselves. In Raising Resistance, Bettina Borgfeld and David Bernet capture the campesinos as they revolt against the enormous soy business in their country. Led by the ever-friendly Geronimo, they squat a section of farmland, try to stop the spraying of pesticides, and make their voices heard in the media. The filmmakers also give the floor to the large landowners.

Germany, Switzerland 2011
by Bettina Borgfeld, David Bernet

The ground in Paraguay is perfect for the cultivation of soy. In recent years, countless acres of forest have been chopped down to make room for the growing of this protein-rich bean. The land of a farmer named Geronimo is now completely surrounded by soy plantations. These are generously sprayed with pesticides - poison that only the genetically modified soy plants are immune to. Unfortunately, the pesticides spread farther than the boundaries of the soy fields. So not only is there less and less land for the campesinos, or local farmers like Geronimo, but it also becomes impossible for them to cultivate healthy crops themselves. In Raising Resistance, Bettina Borgfeld and David Bernet capture the campesinos as they revolt against the enormous soy business in their country. Led by the ever-friendly Geronimo, they squat a section of farmland, try to stop the spraying of pesticides, and make their voices heard in the media. The filmmakers also give the floor to the large landowners.