German Hearing Film Award honors children's film about a homosexual kangaroo
The short film "Ein Känguru wie du" (A Kangaroo Like You), produced by ZDF, was named the best hearing film of 2022 at the German Hearing Film Awards ceremony. In the separate category for children/youth, the short film was able to leave its peers behind at the 20th German Hearing Film Award ceremony.
The German Audio Film Award has been presented since 2002 and is sponsored by the German Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The latter awards prizes to visual formats that use audio description to enable blind and visually impaired people to follow the action without barriers.
"A Kangaroo Like You" - From Picture Book to Audio Film
The audio film "Ein Känguru wie du" (A Kangaroo Like You) lasts about 30 minutes and is based on the picture book by illustrator Ulrich Hub. The story is considered a plea for tolerance for being different. The work was already broadcast on the TV station KIKA in the summer.
If you missed the film and are now interested in watching "Ein Känguru wie du", you can find it in the ZDF-Mediathek. Of course, the film is also offered here with audio description. In addition, the film is subtitled in the Mediathek.
A film and a special message: being gay is "not bad".
The story of "A kangaroo like you" is about two big cats, Pasha and Lucky. Both are to perform with their trainer at a circus festival. At the dress rehearsal, things go wrong. At some point, the trainer begins to cry bitterly. This also attracts the attention of the seals, who are watching the rehearsal.
The seals suspect that the coach could be gay. After all, there would be a lot to be said for it. His head is adorned with blond curls, he wears a lily of the valley perfume and then this emotional outburst. For them it is certain: The trainer of the two cats of prey is homosexual.
Pasha and Lucky don't know what being gay means, but they both decide that they don't want to have anything more to do with their coach. And they certainly don't want to perform with him in front of an audience. Therefore, the two decide to run away and seek their fortune in the city.
Here, however, their situation does not get any better. They feel overwhelmed in the big city and don't know what to do with it. Fortunately, they meet the kangaroo Django. He is a professional boxer and takes the two into his care. Django, Pasha and Lucky hop over the rooftops of the city and pass the time by watching hours of television.
At some point it turns out that Django is gay. From this point on, the two felines realize that being gay is not a bad thing and that they acted much too hastily. Now the two have no problem with homosexuality and put aside their prejudices.
An important message for more tolerance
Anyone who takes a closer look at the topic of the audio film will quickly realize that messages are being conveyed here on several levels. Among other things, it is mentioned that many children today use "swear words" that, firstly, they do not question or understand and, secondly, which - on closer inspection - are not swear words.
It often takes direct contact with people who are marginalized by society to find out that "it's all not so bad". The dismantling of prejudices, including those against homosexuals, as it is repeatedly dealt with in the audio film, may not always work so smoothly. However, the work shows once again that it is often the adults who can still learn a thing or two from the kids.
Did you already notice? With "Second Move Kills": RTL+ shows a Jens Spahn documentary