Berliner sehen is a hypermedia documentary for German Studies that relies on an extensive collection of shared archives and the Internet to form a collaborative learning environment for beginning to advanced-level students. Focusing on Berlin, this documentary features live-recorded video and authentic historical documents that depict the cultural, social, and political life of the city.
The hypermedia format of Berliner sehen encourages students to investigate material in context from different perspectives, to create their own hypermedia mini-documentaries, and to collaborate with other students on the expansion of the archives.
The contemporary video core of Berliner sehen consists of several hours of natural conversations with Berlin residents from different social backgrounds. Spoken in authentic German, they acquaint students with the many facets of individual lives. Together with the extensive archive of texts, images, historical audio and video, these conversations form an expansive narrative network that engages students in exploring key cultural issues from diverse points of view.
The footage for Berliner sehen was filmed during Summer 1995 by the Berlin-based German documentary video artists INTERACT, who worked in close collaboration with project directors Crocker and Fendt to create a video expressly designed for the hypermedia format of this project.
Project Directors: Ellen Crocker & Kurt Fendt