Experiencing Interruptions?

Klasse

Klasse tracks back to the winter of 1938 in Jewish Hamburg at the height of WWII in a classroom kept just as it was during the war. The chairs, desks, chalkboards and solid walls are reminders of the haunting fixity of place against the trace of memories left as records of a tortuous time. The intimate cast of German middle school students and professional dancers bring to life letters written between young classmates as they left one by one on the Kindertransport, reimagining the courageous spirit of children with uncertain futures, both then and now.

  • Malia Bruker
    Director
    Chase; Heirloom; Let's Dance
  • Hannah Schwadron
    Choreographer
  • Inge Mandos
    Producer
  • Malia Bruker
    Producer
  • Hannah Schwadron
    Producer
  • Louis Schwadron
    Composer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 16 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 10, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    11,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • ScreenDance Miami
    Miami, FL, US
    January 23, 2016
    World Premiere
    People's Choice Award
  • American Dance Festival
    Durham
    United States
    July 9, 2016
  • Antimatter Media Art
    Victoria
    Canada
    October 16, 2016
    Canada
  • Southampton Film Week
    Southampton
    United Kingdom
    November 5, 2016
    European
  • Washington Jewish Film Festival

    May 21, 2017
  • Sarasota Film Festival

    April 1, 2017
Director Biography - Malia Bruker

Malia Bruker is a filmmaker, media artist, and Assistant Professor of Digital Media Production at Florida State University. Her films have screened around the world, winning awards at Philadelphia Film Festival, Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival and American Dance Festival.

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Director Statement

More than just a film, this project offered a means of accessing history by way of primary archival materials and movement creation. Klasse was created through the investigation of historical letters written by students during WWII at the school site where the film is set. The film’s cast of middle schoolers and professional dancers read the letters together in German and in English, and worked to find current emotional connections with the experiences of those young people who were their same age at a different tumultuous time in history. Students were encouraged to share their reactions in discussion and choreographic exploration, and imagine situations where friends from school are forced to leave. The ongoing relevance of these letters written in 1938 offered a novel means of exploring the capacity of movement to tell old and new stories.