A German Youth

Une jeunesse allemande

France, Switzerland, 2015

Documentary

Synopsis

Germany, late 60s. The post-war generation revolts against their parents, disillusioned by anti-communist capitalism and a state in which they see fascist tendencies. This film follows the rise of The Red Army Faction, revolutionary terrorist group founded by Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof.

A German Youth Directed by Jean-Gabriel Périot

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Awards & Festivals

Berlin International Film Festival

2015

San Sebastián International Film Festival

2015

San Francisco International Film Festival

2015

César Awards

2016 | Nominee: Best Documentary Film

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Cast & Crew

Articles from the Notebook

Democracy Now, and Always: Close-Up on Jean-Gabriel Périot’s “A German Youth”

The exhilarating archival assemblage detailing the rise of the leftwing Red Army Faction invites a range of interpretations.

Indirect Documentaries: Art of the Real 2016

Diving into New York’s annual festival exploring the spectrum of what fiction filmmaking can be.

Critics reviews

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One of the most invigorating films at the festival is Jean-Gabriel Périot’s A German Youth, which while ostensibly chronicling the rise and fall of the Baader-Meinhof Red Army Faction militant group through the 1960s and 1970s, ends up being a simultaneously rousing and depressing ode to the spirit of radicalism throughout Europe in the 60s, as relevant to Berlin in ’66 as it is to Paris in ’68.

Eric Barroso

April 07, 2016

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A German Youth remains a uniquely compelling look at an oft-simplified time in German history and forces audiences to grapple not only with the shift from protest group to violent organisation but also the means through which we engage with that kind of narrative.

Conor Bateman

August 20, 2015

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Without too much use of recorded voiceovers, the movie is a master class of editing when it comes down to presenting both facts and opinions at the same time just by juxtaposition of two different sources of information.

Jaime Grijalba

June 08, 2015

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What are people saying?

josé neves's rating of the film A German Youth
josé neves

"Indie" cinema # 9: a German romanticism. It's curious, but undeniable, that to look from this distance towards the events recorded by the film, in this period of economic imperatives becoming imperialist, it sets off a connection with the characters that some German literature consolidated, as Kleist's Michael Kohlhaas.The film has the virtue of not denying it, with rare and essential documents well processed.
January 24, 2019 18:00
- 9
- 0
msmichel's rating of the film A German Youth
msmichel

Exceptional documentary looking at the rise of the RAF in 60's/70's Germany by using only archival footage to tell its' tale. The passion of the radical youth shines through as protest gives way to violence and eventually terror.
January 24, 2019 18:54
- 2
- 0
Jason's rating of the film A German Youth
Jason

A GERMAN YOUTH is an assemblage, a collection of found footage, full of grandstanding politicos and strident youth, bits of news, spliced-in happenings. Shouldn't by any rights be one of the most grabs-on-won't-let-go captivating things I have ever seen, but there you have it. This is mad and profound history I was already profoundly mad for. I had this thought: Ulrike Meinhof could just as easily have been a CEO.
January 24, 2019 18:54
- 2
- 0
anarresti's rating of the film A German Youth
anarresti

Incredible documentary, that gives meaning to a whole lot more than its scope. Telling the story of the Red Army Faction, the film explains a lot of how German society made the transition from fascism to democracy. It shows the gap of generations, how the youth was more utopian and felt their parents were guilty. How radical utopians like the RAF transitioned from theory to direct action and then violent action.
November 12, 2017 09:46
- 1
- 0
EdieEmm's rating of the film A German Youth
EdieEmm

I liked this quite a bit, I remember, but honestly the details were just sort of a little peripheral to the giant swoony crush I developed on Ulrike Meinhof. <3
January 24, 2019 18:54
- 2
- 0
affasf's rating of the film A German Youth
affasf

Mild overall, but remarkable anti-sensationalistic reminder to footage telluric vehicularity – the unapologetic beauty of fire engulfing ideology.
January 24, 2019 18:09
- 2
- 0
DrFirestone's rating of the film A German Youth
DrFirestone

Absolutely brilliant documentary exposing the reasons why the far left political movements failed (so far). We see the fragmented political left crushed by the capitalist media and state control. But most of all, we fail to evolve because of our conformist human nature - a revolution requires a personal sacrifice, and the working class (until they’re dying of starvation) couldn’t care less. Top class documentary.
January 24, 2019 18:54
- 6
- 0
Jacques de Villiers's rating of the film A German Youth
Jacques de Villiers

Having taken part in student protests and watched a similar dwindling of support and the turn to more alienating approaches (nothing approaching RAF levels though), this doc was a bittersweet revelation. Surprisingly even-keeled, brilliantly reflexive in its inclusion of radical filmmaking of the time, it's a lightening rod connecting us to the time it depicts, leaving afterimages that won't stop haunting me.
November 27, 2017 09:35
- 1
- 0