DEMOCRACY

Digitalization has changed society. While data is the 'new oil', data protection has to become the new 'pollution control'. This film begins in 'pre­Snowden'­times, when a group of European lawmakers starts to challenge the political and eco­ nomical status quo in digital society with a new law for data protection. Philipp Albrecht, specialized in net politics and civil rights, is now to be the leading figure of the European data protection debate. During the two years of negotiations, the pressure by industry stakeholders and adverse political groups is becoming so intense, that the political standing of Albrecht becomes more and more endangered. Until Snowden enters the world stage and changes the game. DEMOCRACY is both a film about modern lawmaking in a highly complex world, and a film about the future of digital society affecting all of us.

DAVID BERNET

 

Grew up in Rheineck (Switzerland), lives in Germany and works as director, author and producer for documentary films. He studied Comparative Literature and Philosophy in Vienna and Berlin. Since 1995 he worked as journalist for print and radio, then as researcher and author for documentary film. He began his career as director with the documentary „The Whisperers“ and as member of the Swiss oral history association Archimob realizing the early multi-media documentary series „l’histoire c ́est moi“.

 

His recent production „Raising Resistance“ has been awarded with the Prix SRG SSR as „Best Swiss Film 2011“, with „Deutscher Naturfilmpreis 2012“, „The Golden Butterfly 2012“ at Movies That Matter Festival The Hague, the award for Best Directing of the Nonfiktionale 2013 and a lot of other awards. His actual production „Among Friends“ is a long-term documentary revealing the inner machinery of EU lawmaking in Brussels by following the actual privacy and data protection debate.

 

Alongside David Bernet is teaching audiovisual storytelling at the Institut for Social Studies and Anthropology, Free University Berlin.

• IDFA Amsterdam, Netherlands 2015 
• Berlinale, Germany 2016

Let IT dok! 2016