Documentary | "The Tender Revolution": Caring for all living things

" Dear Annelie" – these are the words that begin the letters the protagonists of your new film write to you and read aloud in the film. How did you come up with the idea of using this form of letter instead of the usual interviews or free statements in front of the camera?

I'm a fan of giving protagonists a lot of creative freedom and giving them the chance to use films for themselves, for what they want to tell. The written format gives more time to find an answer. You have the chance to consider how you want to tell your story and present it in front of the camera without being exposed to surprising questions. It's also a bit more poetic than just talking it off. I much prefer that, especially with the voiceover narration.

In the film, you only hear one question you ask the protagonists: "What is care for you?" Did you ask other questions as a basis for the letters?

Yes, the letters were written over weeks and months. I actually sent very specific questions to each of the protagonists and gave them the opportunity to share other things as well; they were completely free to do so.

Does the personal address in the letters also indicate that you don't just want to be a neutral observer like other documentary filmmakers, but that you are personally involved?

I didn't make that conscious decision, but I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't already included a personal dimension in the film. I decided to also reveal that my very good friend and roommate Kathrin took her own life while I was researching the film. When it happened, I took a break and focused on myself and the whole situation. But I quickly had an inkling: What had just crashed into my life is exactly the topic I'm dealing with in the film project. That's why I ask a very personal question at the beginning of the film: In what world would Kathrin have liked to live? Or is there a world in which suicide wouldn't have been her only way out? This created an even more personal and emotional connection to the protagonists' stories, and the letter format reinforces this.

At the end, you address Kathrin herself. A message to your deceased friend?

I started working on the film before the suicide. It's for everyone, myself included, who feels and suffers from the fact that we don't care enough in this society. It's aimed at everyone who sees a lack in this regard, and is intended as a small declaration of love to them. Also to Kathrin, because I very much hope that making this film this way would have been in her best interest. I had discussed the project with her a lot. It's a nice idea that it's a gift for her.

How did you find your protagonists, all of whom are strikingly eloquent?

I found it in very different ways and over a very long period of time. I found Arnold, who cares for his severely disabled son, through Gabriele Winkler's book "Care Revolution." discovered. The social scientist wonders what can be done about the fact that care is so neglected in our society. Her idea is to unite different struggles, and dedicated family caregivers like Arnold play an important role in this.

Bożena, a Polish 24-hour caregiver, has also been in the public eye with her story. She sued her agency and won. Since then, she has organized a union to support other caregivers. It was very important to me to find someone who could also speak critically about her situation—which is risky because she risks losing her job.

Disability activist Samuel is a friend of a friend who told me about him during my research. We became friends immediately. Through him, I wanted to focus on the question: What is life like for people who are more dependent on help than others? Samuel is also a caregiver who is currently building an inclusive housing project where everyone cares for one another.

I met Amanda, a physician and indigenous climate activist from Peru, through a friend. She has placed caring for nature at the heart of her work.

How did you come to the decision to include a climate activist in the film, even though she isn't really relevant to the topic?

It was incredibly important to me to address the fact that it's not just about caring for people, but about caring for all living things. We are all dependent on our surroundings and our environment, and we only thrive when the systems around us are healthy. You always think: Some people need care; I needed it as a child, and maybe I'll need it again when I'm older. But we need it all the time. Even eating is part of care. We need a healthy planet so that we have food and aren't at the mercy of disasters. Amanda, for example, travels to the Ahr Valley and meets people affected by the floods.

To what extent does your own Romanian family background play a role in the film?

24-hour caregivers from Romania cared for my Romanian and German grandmothers in Germany. As a child, I had a close relationship with my grandmother's caregiver, even though she had to leave her own familiar life behind to earn money. This care drain is absurd: Caregivers come from their Eastern European countries to Western Europe, but their own parents and children have no one to care for them. Bożena came to Germany as a seasonal worker and, like many Romanians, started out picking cucumbers. Producing food to provide for people can also be considered very relevant care work.

How did you manage to set boundaries, for example, in intimate scenes? Did you coordinate with the protagonists about what the camera could show?

We discussed roughly what we wanted to shoot beforehand. In a film about care, the care we provided should be clearly visible—with all that goes with it. I had already defined this when selecting the protagonists. Samuel expressed his desire for the film to help break down barriers to contact. He suggested many things he wanted to show, such as waking up, doing morning stretches with his assistants, and going to the sauna with his friends, where they carry him in naked. I gave everyone involved time to think about it and offered the opportunity to watch scenes afterwards and veto them if necessary. This door was always open.

The protagonists also had very clear boundaries: Arnold's son, for example, doesn't sit naked in the bathtub. And the elderly lady cared for by Bożena said: "We can go to the cemetery together and cook and eat together, but I don't want to be filmed while I'm being washed."

So you've found a caring approach to the protagonists. That's not a given in documentary filmmaking. I've heard directors say: 'Then you can't make films at all if you have to clarify everything with everyone involved.'

Some filmmakers tend to overemphasize this divide: I'm the filmmaker, you're the people in front of the camera, and only I know what this film should be like. I resist this approach. I like to involve the protagonists, asking them: Why do you need this film? Why are you interested in participating? Especially with such an intimate subject, I would feel incredibly uncomfortable standing there and saying: Look what a great film I've made. It's very important to me that the protagonists can use the film for themselves. There's a certain caring element in that, too.

"The Tender Revolution," Germany 2025. Directed by Annelie Boroş. 93 minutes. Release date: August 14.