Short film "Landau-Brille": What is typical of Landau? And what is it like to live there as a student?

RPTU student Frieda Kind explored these questions in her short film "Landau-Brille". The film cinematically shows how her love for the small town in the southern Palatinate was sparked and what newcomers can expect. Thanks to the help of a friend, the project became bigger than originally thought and even won an award.

"It was a gray, unexciting day. I packed a few things and took the train to Landau. When I changed to the Regio in Neustadt, I suddenly saw a beautiful sunset behind a mountain panorama. I thought, how cheesy is that? This is where I'm supposed to study?" This is how Frieda Kind describes the moment when she traveled to Landau for the first time in September 2020. This moment was to be the beginning of her love for a small town she had never known before, to which she dedicated her own short film entitled "Landau-Brille" three years later.

Kind was studying psychology in her eighth bachelor's semester at RPTU. At the time, Landau University was the first to accept her. Neither the city nor the surrounding Palatinate region had previously been on the Erfurt-born student's radar. "Back then, many of my friends went to study in big cities like Berlin or Heidelberg. Landau was still a blank slate for me. But as I quickly found a flat share, I thought to myself, okay, then Landau it will be," reveals the 23-year-old.

Typical Landau moments

It didn't take her long to settle into the small town in the southern Palatinate. In the three and a half years she has now spent in Landau, she has repeatedly come across "typical Landau moments." Which is why, last summer, she decided to create a project "that gives Landau back what it was for me." And so the short film "Landau Glasses" was created.

The five-minute film, which was released in September 2023, is intended to showcase all the experiences and typical moments that Kind associates with Landau and give both first-year students and other newcomers a first impression of the city. Students in particular, who according to the film usually have to master the "balancing act between being free and financial limitations", should find themselves reflected in the film's statements.

"Studying where others go on vacation"

"Circles are constantly closing. You know some people from shared flats, others from parties or from working together. And suddenly everyone knows each other too," reveals Kind. "Landau takes the saying that you always see each other twice in a lifetime to a whole new level. You meet by chance five times a day," says the film. Landau is a small, informal town where everyone knows each other. "I've also never experienced people directly revealing where they live in conversation. In other cities, it's very private," says Kind.

"Studying where others go on vacation." The student can understand why the Palatinate is referred to as the "Tuscany of Germany". She finds the landscape more beautiful than in her home state of Thuringia. She finds the sight of vineyards calming. When she goes home, she always brings "a little wine" from the Palatinate with her. The expressions "Alla hopp" and "ajoo" have now become deeply ingrained in her vocabulary. "That's really bad. I catch myself doing it, especially on the phone," Kind reveals with a grin.

"Nothing is enough because anything is possible." The film also addresses issues that are not specific to Landau, but are more of a "curse of our generation", says the 23-year-old. "We have so many options and we are given so much information that there is no end to it." Landau is not a bad place for this, as the opportunities are manageable, she says.

Seeing the world with different eyes

After initial reservations, the student now has a special view of Landau, sees the city positively and feels at ease. It's as if she's wearing rose-colored glasses. "It's beautiful here and I love it. When you live here for longer, you see the world with different eyes, as if you're wearing glasses. The Landau glasses," enthuses Kind.

The red glasses, on which Landau is written in white Tipp-Ex, are the central element of the film. She came up with the idea when she was visiting a friend: "I wanted a special twist for the movie. I saw a comic hanging on a friend's wall that said: 'the yellow tinted lenses'. That's when I got the idea for the glasses."

"I got goosebumps"

Kind started writing the script, made a few initial recording attempts with her cell phone and had a friend record the voice-over, i.e. the voiceover in the background of the film. At the time, she had no plans to show the video to the public. Partly because she had never shot or edited a film before. "I was overwhelmed, but then I met Tim at Unisport Parkour," she recalls.

When Frieda Kind met Tim Müller at Unisport, he mentioned that he liked producing videos and was even studying graphic design by distance learning at the Diploma University in North Hesse. "Frieda approached me and introduced me to the idea. She already had a script, a gallery of cell phone videos and the first version of the voice-over. I'm not from Landau, but it all immediately gave me the feeling of Landau and I even got goosebumps. I was immediately involved," says Müller.

With longboard and inline skates through Landau

Kind now planned a route through Landau. From the train station to the university, via Schillerpark and Goethepark to the former state garden show grounds and back. Equipped with a longboard and inline skates, the two then filmed countless videos of the city. They also collected video snippets for the film at the Landau Summer and the Fête de la Musique. The protagonists are mainly Landau students, while Kind herself only makes brief appearances. She emphasizes that the film should not focus on herself, but on Landau and its people.

Müller made the first cut, and the two then sat down together again and again to work on the project in their free time alongside their studies. The different camera angles, tracking shots, voice-over and atmospheric music in the background make the film look like a cinematic trailer. "I'm incredibly grateful to Tim for being involved," emphasizes Kind. "It was only through him that I realized that this small project could become something bigger." The Karlsruhe student is now in Landau so often that he also wears the metaphorical Landau glasses: "I also have these Landau moments all the time. Meeting five times a day is particularly intense."

Film award at La.Meko

The two soon started thinking about submitting the finished film to the Landau International Short Film Festival La.Meko. But that wasn't necessary. The festival organizers approached them. Kind and Müller's short film production was shown at La.Meko last December and even won the prize for the best regional documentary.

What's next for the two young filmmakers? The two have no concrete projects planned, but they can already imagine producing another film. "People come and go, move here to study or simply stay here," they say in the film. There are those in Landau who stay longer and those who are just passing through, explains Kind. In both cases, however, the city is not a place for quick acquaintances, but for deep friendships. And even if Kind moves away from Landau again for her Master's degree, her time in the Southern Palatinate will always remain a beautiful chapter for her and the Landau glasses will always be with her.

The movie "Landau Glasses" can be seen here on YouTube.

Text: Felix Schönhöfer