In a society in which freedom is considered the greatest good, there is the question of how deprivation of liberty is perceived as a punishment. This project uses a completely new format – film – to explore the question: “What does freedom mean when it is taken away?”
The project
Despite re-socializing approaches, imprisonment remains the maximum sanction. The principle of freedom becomes significant when imprisonment is imposed as a punishment – existence remains secured, but freedom beyond that is taken away. We believe that the meaning of freedom can best be approached by addressing the restriction of freedom. Prisoners are exposed to this issue on a daily basis.
Through a film and the accompanying exhibitions, we want to encourage people to question their own knowledge and attitudes towards freedom and deprivation of liberty. We want to help highlight the meaning and essence of freedom and stimulate a dialog about the supposed self-evidence of freedom and the exercise of deprivation of liberty as a measure.
The first funding period of the project, which includes the original interviews in the prisons, the production of the film as well as the premiere and first screening, extends from March to December 2024. This was primarily supported by the Wissenschaft im Dialog university competition.
The project will continue in 2025 in the form of film screenings with open discussions and scientific publications.
Project management: Anika Radewald & Dr. Aaron Bielejewski
Project collaboration: Anne Fischer
The movie
“Freedom and deprivation of liberty”
As part of the Wissenschaft im Dialog university competition, we addressed the question “How do we experience freedom?”. We believe that the best way to approach the meaning of freedom is to look at how it is restricted. To this end, we have interviewed people who have been deprived of their freedom: Prisoners in Saxon correctional facilities.
In cooperation with the Chemnitz Film Workshop and the actors Katka Kurze, Dirk Glodde and Marvin Reich, the Center for Criminological Research Saxony has captured the impressions and thoughts of people in prison in a short film. The film provides a unique insight into personal perspectives on freedom – and on life without it.
Review: Film premiere & exhibition
Our project Freiheit und Freiheitsentzug (Freedom and Deprivation of Liberty), with which we prevailed against numerous applicants in the Wissenschaft im Dialog university competition and won with our idea, reached its climax in December with a successful film premiere and the opening of an accompanying exhibition:
On December 11, 2024, the premiere of our film on the topic of freedom and deprivation of liberty took place at Lokomov. The event attracted around 75 enthusiastic visitors. After the screening, we gave a short presentation on the making of the film and then invited people to an open discussion.
Parallel to the premiere, we opened our accompanying exhibition, which dealt with scientific findings from studies by the Center for Criminological Research Saxony (ZKFS) (PaWaKS, HasteX). The exhibition offered visitors the opportunity to reflect on their own attitudes towards offenders and the topic of freedom.
Interactive media, in particular posters, were used to illustrate key issues from the research. The HasteX study, for example, shed light on the perception of hate crime, the prison system and sex work and provided valuable insights into the treatment of prisoners and the public perception of prisons. Visitors were able to actively participate by using stickers to leave their opinions on issues such as the location of prisons, access to information about offenders in the neighbourhood and the resocialization of prisoners. Another interactive poster invited people to reflect on their personal experiences with crime and record their own views on freedom.
The combination of informative and interactive elements made it possible to convey relevant topics in a vivid way, while the film offered an artistic approach to the subject matter. The cinematic realization of transcribed interviews also gave visitors an insight into the methodology of scientific research.
The exhibition was on display from December 11 to 16, 2024 in the GLASKASTEN gallery of Klub Solitaer e.V. and enjoyed numerous interested visitors every day.
In the future, we will continue to present the film together with the accompanying exhibition, thus creating further opportunities for reflection and exchange.
