The Loud Spring

Since the beginning of the UN climate conferences in 1992, annual CO2 emissions have not decreased, but increased by 60%. Why? What could a society look like that would be able to curb climate change?
In the climate movement, there is a growing realisation that capitalism and climate protection are incompatible, but there is no idea of how we can bring about a change in the system. The Loud Spring outlines what the profound change that we need might look like.

In a situation where public awareness of the drastic consequences of climate change is growing rapidly, the film draws attention to the elephant in the room: where does the political power to actually change things come from?

In THE LOUD SPRING, director and producer Johanna Schellhagen asks what needs to be done to curb barbarism, chaos and mass hunger in the unfolding climate catastrophe. The film was realised by labournet.tv.
On the visual level, THE LOUD SPRING works with an exciting style mix of documentary footage and animation. The latter are penned by the successful "graphic novel" artist Lee Lai.

  • Johanna Schellhagen
    Director
    Luft zum Atmen
  • Johanna Schellhagen
    Writer
    Luft zum Atmen
  • Johanna Schellhagen
    Producer
    Luft zum Atmen
  • Micaela Masetto
    Camera
  • Paoloa Calvo
    Camera
  • Ariane Timea Wagner
    Camera
  • Aline Juárez Contreras
    Camera
  • Rocío Rodriquez
    Camera
  • Ariane Timea Wagner
    Sound
  • Julien Bach
    Sound
  • Lee Lai
    Illustrations
  • Tomi Simatupang
    Music
  • Ariane Timea Wagner
    Production assistant
  • Carla Hartmann
    Production assistant
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Der Laute Frühling
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 2 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 4, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Language:
    English, German
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Distribution Information
  • labournet.tv
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Theatrical
Director Biography - Johanna Schellhagen

*1971, studied analytical philosophy in Austria, co-founder of videocativist platform kanalB.org in 2000, since then director of documentary films about workers' struggles and social movements.

In 2011 Schellhagen founded labournet.tv, an online archive of films from the labour movement that is being build up by a womens' collective in Berlin.

Films:

2001 - The G8 summit in Genoa
2002 - Argentina, March 2002
2003 - Murdered Coca Cola unionists in Colombia
2005 - Des Wahnsinns letzter Schrei
2015 - Ditching The Fear
2019 - Luft zum Atmen - 40 Jahre Opposition bei Opel in Bochum

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When I became aware of the catastrophic dimensions of the climate change I felt the obligation to make available everything I have learned about strategy in over 20 years of political activism to the Climate Movement.
That is mainly some basic marxism combined with the first hand experiences of state terrorism that i gathered at the G8 summit in Genoa 2001, where protests in the streets were violently crushed by police, and the state backed persecution of unionists as well as community and indigenous leaders in Colombia.
They main part of my political formation however came from almost two decades of making videos and films about workers' struggles:
To see how powerful people are when they fight together and organize at their workplace gave me the idea that this knowledge has to be made available to the Climate Movement and shape their strategic thinking - if we want to have a chance of mitigating and eventually repairing the damage done by a bizarre and utterly destructuve economic system.
I was happy to be able to interview Andreas Malm for The Loud Spring, as he is one of the most important strategical thinkers the Climate Movement has today. Equally, the insights of labor activits and organizers from UK (AngryWorkers) and Poland (Amazon workers and unionitsts) are important for the film.
We interviewed demonstrators at Fridays 4 Future and Extinction Rebellion demonstrations and at two actions of Ende Gelände to get a sence of where the movement is at in terms of strategical thinking.
Finally it was excinting for me to develpop a piece of fictional storytelling for the first time of my carreer: 20 minutes of The Loud Spring describe the transition from todays Berlin to a early revolutionary situation in 2024, where people start overtaking essential production and connecting to other regions in upheaval.