A Traveling Exhibition
DOCUMENTARY
Project documentation
German only, 30 MB PDF

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2013 Giessen
2014 Bremen
2014 Washington, D.C.
2015 St. Louis, Missouri




Utopia

Peter Roloff’s feature-length documentary follows the trail of a “German republic” in the USA, a bold and unique project in the history of German democracy and on the Western Frontier of the United States: Friedrich Muench and his friend Paul Follenius found the “Giessen Emigration Society”. And 500 people leave together with them in spring of 1834. Where does their journey lead them?

Like the Society from 1834, a research team makes its way from Hesse to Bremen, via an emergency bivouac on the island of Harriersand, finishing in Missouri in the USA. The team is composed of archivist Ludwig Brake from Giessen, Bremen-based author Rolf Schmidt, historian Dorris Keeven-Franke from Missouri, filmmaker Peter Roloff and others. They are united by the search for the causes, history, and effects of one of Germany's most unique political projects – an unknown chapter in the history of German democracy.

The team follows the life paths of Muench and Follenius. They come across a surprising multitude of original sites and scenes, like the farms of Friedrich Muench and Paul Follenius, heartrending documents in the archives, knowledgeable descendants, and passionate experts in the field – such as the hundred-year-old historian Ralph Gregory. It is here that we discover the driving forces behind Muench and Follenius and how the utopian project has continued in Missouri, albeit in a different form.

Written & directed by Peter Roloff | Photography: Peter Roloff | Editor: Manfred Hielscher | Music: André Feldhaus | Produced by maxim film | Funded by nordmedia Film- und Mediengesellschaft Lower Saxony/Bremen

US Premiere: St. Louis International Film Festival, 23 November 2014

More info: www.maxim-film.de
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/UtopiaDocumentary
Mittwoch, 17. Juni 2015
20:15 pm
Gießen „Utopia is coming back!“ – Teil 1
Donnerstag, 18. Juni 2015
ab 17 Uhr
Gießen „Utopia is coming back!“ – Teil 2
Sonntag, 12. Juni 2015
12 bis 16 Uhr
Harriersand „Looking back to Utopia“
Sunday, 12 July 2015
8.30 am
Missouri "Summer Bus Tour through Utopia"
Sonntag, 6. September 2015
12 Uhr
Berlin „Utopia coming to Berlin!”
23 September to
1 October 2015
“The Dawn of Utopia”