Basic Info
- Documentary Series
- Principal Photography: starting March 2020
- Produced & Directed By: Andreas Frickinger
Intention of the Project
The complex social and ecological crises of our time show us more and more clearly the necessity of a profound cultural transformation. As the world’s population increases, the negative effects of a globalized consumer culture on people, animals and the environment are growing. We are forced to take a closer look. How can we explore ways into a future worth living? How can we develop a new cultural story? How can we, as humanity, use this essential crisis to develop ourselves both individually and as a society? How are these two developments related?
In order to find answers to these questions, the documentary “Cultural Transformers – Exploring Ways Into a Future Worth Living” portrays inspiring people who bring new ways of thinking and action to life in different ways. The film is about people who are actively involved in shaping a cultural change characterized by cooperation, humanity and sustainable thinking. The portrayed protagonists are active in various fields. On the one hand, we interview people who explore the structure of human psychology through contemplation and meditation. On the other hand, we meet people who come to new perspectives through the deliberate restructuring of their actions.
The focus lies on the question: How is inner growth— especially by means of deceleration, mindfulness and more conscious experience—related to cultural and societal change? The protagonists of the documentary speak about inner processes contributing to new ways of thinking and acting. To what extent did an examination of their conscious, human experience influence their actions in the world?
To meet todays unprecedented challenges, we are required to mature into a more conscious and whole life. That means waking up individually and coming together in more enlightened collectives.
Protagonists
Vivian
We talked to Vivian about mindfulness, meditation and her vision about a future worth living in.
Nils
Nils is one of the founders of Deeply Human and talks about a moment that had profound implications for his life.
Jonas
Jonas managed to produce only one glass of plastic waste within a year. He is also involved in the Extinction Rebellion movement.
Lucie & Peter
We talked to Lucie and Peter about packaging-free shopping and explored ways into a future worth living in.
More Protagonists
Eduard Justus
Eddie owns Eddie’s Packaging Free Shopping in Mannheim. Since March 2018, customers have been able to shop food, hygiene and cosmetics without packaging in his grocery store.
Image by: www.morgenweb.de
Marc Vermee
Marc is a meditation teacher and certified MBSR teacher (mindfulness-based stress reduction) and has been accompanying meditators in their development for many years. He leads meditation retreats and draws on a wealth of meditation techniques and practices. He has been practicing meditation and mindfulness for over 30 years.
Ute Ritzhaupt
Ute has been committed to the hospice movement for many years. She is head of a hospice service in southern Germany. Their hospice service includes inpatient and outpatient terminal care, as well as palliative counseling and mourning care for relatives.
Christiane Halder &
Dr. Hans Madritsch
Christiane studied natural resources and plant management. Hans studied economics, is an independent business consultant and enthusiastic part-time farmer. Environmentally friendly production of high quality products are their two major concerns. In addition to the production of products for direct sales, they also aim towards self-sufficiency as much as possible.
Maria Lefèvre
Maria runs the “Little Paradise” retreat and meditation center near Hamburg. Little Paradise offers space and accommodation for contemplation and meditation. The offer is presented in a secular way and aims at people of all spiritual backgrounds and nationalities.
www.littleparadise.hamburg, Image by: Uli Mattes
Nathalie & Frank Röder
Nathalie and Frank quit jobs, their apartment, sold most of the things they had and left without a plan or destination. They traveled to Greece, Southeast Asia, India, Cuba and Southeast Europe. On the way, they learned a lot about themselves, about the world and about the privileges that come with having a German passport.
Samuel Theiler
Samuel has been meditating for over 25 years. He is a member of the board of trustees at the Beatenberg Meditation Center and is responsible for the distribution of Dharma Tapes, an audio library of Buddhist lectures. In his teaching activity, he adapts the Buddhist teachings to western, cultural conditions to make them accessible and tangible.
Karin Schlieber
In Obermillstatt, high above Lake Millstatt, Karin runs a permaculture, herb and vegetable show garden. Permaculture offers the opportunity to transform a piece of earth into a paradise for humans, animals and plants. Little weeding, no digging, no watering, no fertilizing, no fighting. Instead, see, understand, apply natural cycles and enjoy the gifts of nature.
Lila Kimhi
Lila was born in Israel and later lived in the United States and Paris. She studied psychology, journalism, Indian philosophy and Sanskrit. In 1998 she left her previous life to delve into meditation in India and Thailand. Today she teaches the practice of meditation and offers meditators her guidance in retreats.
You would be crazy to busily polish the silverware as your house burned down. Similarly, it is insane to live a normal life in today’s world. Maybe if millions of children were not malnourished, maybe if torture were not commonplace around the globe, maybe if species and entire ecosystems were not dying, maybe if genocide were forever gone, maybe if all the injustices I’ve chronicled in these pages did not exist—maybe then the “normal” life presented us would be sane. Maybe then it would make sense to absorb ourselves in professional sports, soap operas, the stock market, material acquisition, and the lives of celebrities. Given the reality of the world today though, the only life that makes sense to live is an extraordinary life.
DesIgn Concept
In order to visually convey the message of the film, the image design aims to put the viewer in a contemplative or meditative mood. This is achieved by exceptional camera perspectives, nature observations and detail shots—which are captured in a 4k high resolution, cinematic full-frame look.
The meditative mood of the film will also be supported by a rather quiet edit. Recordings of interviews are skilfully interwoven with interesting perspectives on the environment of the persons portrayed. On the sound level, the film only partially works with music. High-quality, spatial sound recordings of the environments shown are deliberately used as an element to enable the viewer to immerse themselves in the surrounding world of the protagonists.
The Filmmakers
Andreas Frickinger
Andreas produces and directs the movie. He has acquired a wealth of knowledge through his studies in audiovisual media (emphasis: camera and postproduction) and his many years of work in the field of visual effects. As a VFX supervisor, he accompanies film productions from screenplay advice, to calculation, support on set, to the creative direction and implementation of complex visual effects shots.
“Cultural Transformers – Exploring Ways Into a Future Worth Living” is his first documentary, in which he wants to bring in and develop the acquired knowledge and skills.
Andreas is also a trained hospice caregiver and MBSR teacher (mindfulness-based stress reduction) and has many years of meditation practice. The examination of his own transience through meditation and voluntary work as a hospice caregiver has motivated him to explore the connections between inner growth and cultural transformation.
Carsten Schuffert
Carsten is managing director of the company Bewegte Bilder Medien GmbH and will accompany the project as a postproduction supervisor. Based in Tübingen, his company is the perfect location for the postproduction of a movie in which sustainability plays a major role.
The office building in resource-saving wood construction was largely built with renewable construction materials. Beyond producing their own electricity through solar energy, Carsten and his team put a lot of effort in providing an environment that enables creativity.
Melike Frickinger
Melike takes care of the organizational aspects of the film production as producer. As an assistant director and interview partner, she accompanies the aspects of cultural transformation (change in the outside), as she has already gained extensive experience in this field. Due to her job in a shop for unpackaged goods, she is knowledgable in the production and distribution of ecologically sustainable food.
She will therefore be an interview partner for protagonists, who come to new perspectives through the deliberate restructuring of their actions. Also, Melike is a speech therapist and singer and will give her voice to the film as a narrator.
Nils Schmalenbach
As a dramaturgical consultant, Nils will be instrumental in guiding the aspects of the movie about inner growth. He is a certified MBSR teacher (mindfulness-based stress reduction) and has been accompanying meditators in their development for several years.
Together with Andreas, he founded Deeply Human in 2019 – an online platform for inner growth and cultural transformation. Nils is therefore a competent interview partner for our protagonists with a background in psychology and meditation.
You Can Support US!
Our film project, and the journey that comes with it, is a step into the unknown. We leave behind supposed guaranties—such as regular income, pension entitlements and our familiar environment—to discover and experience new ways of living.
For the realization of the documentary—e.g. for travel expenses and the purchase of camera equipment—we need your support.
We’d appreciate your donation!
As PayPal is charging a fee for each donation,
we prefer donations via direct bank transfer.
Direct Bank Transfer
Deutsche Kreditbank Berlin
Andreas Frickinger
IBAN: DE36 1203 0000 1053 5746 85
BIC: BYLADEM1001
2020 Andreas Frickinger
All Rights Reserved
Due to the planned theatrical release, all content published in connection with the documentary film project "Cultural Transformers" is not covered by a Creative Commons license.
