Films by Titus Maderlechner

Germany 2018, 35 min
by Katja Fedulova

At the age of 21, Vasily Vlasov became the youngest parliamentarian in the Russian Duma. Given his abundant confidence and self-assured manner, he could have been a refreshing new voice. But Vasily’s ideals are rooted in the past—seated at his kitchen table, he explains that women should obey their husbands, and at most have a humble occupation such as nurse or schoolteacher. His girlfriend Katya, who's about the same age and has political ambitions of her own, listens on with a benign smile on her face. Vasily is the assistant and protégé of the clownish ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Strikingly, his deeply conservative party LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia), which is viewed by some as fascistic, is particularly popular among young people. To a slick Russian rock 'n' roll song, Vasily walks us through the political theatre staged in Moscow during the presidential election in 2018: meetings with his supporters, campaigning out on the street, and conducting "quality control" on an outdoor market trader—calling to mind events in 1930s Germany. Vasily’s ambition to play his role right is as dangerous as it is comical. (IDFA)

Germany 2013, 58 min
by Arpad Bondy

Billions of euros were poured into European financial institutions to prevent them from failing. But where is this money really going? Who do the ailing banks owe? 50 billion euro to Greece, 70 billion to Ireland, 40 billion to Spain – one Euro state after another has found itself forced to prop up its banks by pumping in huge sums of money to cover the losses that the financial institutions themselves incurred from bad loans. But where are these billions of euro actually going? Who is benefiting? Award-winning business journalist Harald Schumann criss-crosses Europe asking this simple question and receives some intriguing answers. The rescued parties are not in the poorer Euro countries but predominantly in Germany and France. A large share of the money ends up with the creditors of the banks who want or have to be rescued. And although these investors have obviously invested very poorly, they are being protected against any losses at the expense of the general public. Why is this happening? Who is receiving the money? Harald Schumann succeeds in making this complicated topic understandable for everyone, while putting forward his own – both knowledgeable and courageous – opinion. Maybe the most passionate film ever made on the banking crisis.