Film
System Crasher (12A)
Dir. Nora Fingsheidt, Germany, 2019, 118 mins, subtitled. Cast. Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch, Gabriela Maria Schmeide.
Nine-year-old Benni is a ‘system crasher’: a foster kid whose behaviour is so out of control that she cannot be placed with families. Given over to social services by her hapless, abused mother, she is a whirling handful of a child, intelligent and verbose one second, screaming and violent the next. When social worker Micha takes Benni to stay at a cottage in the woods, she discovers glimmers of a childhood she never experienced. But the idyll can only last so long and her return to civilisation will challenge the kindness of all those trying to save her. A powerful story of a young girl who has lost her place in society, this is a no-holds-barred, deeply humane glimpse into the fraught and at times impossible world of child protection services. Driven by a powerhouse performance from Helena Zengel as the young Benni, System Crasher will leave you reeling.
Our screening on Tuesday April 28th will be introduced by Pat Kelly of 606 Films and we will be joined in a post-film Q&A by a selection of Child Care Professionals to discuss some of the themes of the film.
Nine-year-old Benni is a ‘system crasher’: a foster kid whose behaviour is so out of control that she cannot be placed with families. Given over to social services by her hapless, abused mother, she is a whirling handful of a child, intelligent and verbose one second, screaming and violent the next. When social worker Micha takes Benni to stay at a cottage in the woods, she discovers glimmers of a childhood she never experienced. But the idyll can only last so long and her return to civilisation will challenge the kindness of all those trying to save her. A powerful story of a young girl who has lost her place in society, this is a no-holds-barred, deeply humane glimpse into the fraught and at times impossible world of child protection services. Driven by a powerhouse performance from Helena Zengel as the young Benni, System Crasher will leave you reeling.
Our screening on Tuesday April 28th will be introduced by Pat Kelly of 606 Films and we will be joined in a post-film Q&A by a selection of Child Care Professionals to discuss some of the themes of the film.