More information
Description
The project is a living memorial to the events of November 1989 in the former Czechoslovakia. In the form of a film documentary, an online portal and discussions related to screenings in secondary schools, independent cultural centers and alternative spaces, it translates historical events from history textbooks to the present, thus stimulating intergenerational dialogue.
The main aim of the project is for the younger generation to ask their parents how they "remember" what they were doing these days to encourage inter-generational dialogue about the society and the position of human rights in it, about freedom and the promotion of democratic values.
The project consists of the production of a film and its distribution (screening a film with discussions in various cultural centers, distribution to secondary schools all around Slovakia + discussions of students and teachers).
A suitable methodology for discussions after the film screening in 20 schools (elemetary, secondary) in cities across Slovakia is going to be created. The methodology will provide teachers and educators with guidance on how to communicate with students on topics related not only to the events of November 1989, but also on how to explain students the development of society after these events.
The film puts emphasis on explaining human rights violations, oral history and personal memories of events in the history of Slovakia that have influenced the society''s mentality. This project wants to preserve the feeling and perception of time by ordinary people who survived this period of history through a narrated, dynamically assembled, visually attractive and emotionally tuned mosaic of authentic testimonies.
The project also includes a unique online memorial of shared content, where visitors of the site can add short texts, videos, audio recordings and photos.
The Nation''s Memory Institute is a project partner and expert guarantor of the project. It contributes to the project in kind.
Summary of project results
The Ask Your Parents 89 is a unique living memorial to the events of November 1989 in former Czechoslovakia. In the form of a film documentary, an online portal, discussions related to film screenings in secondary schools and independent cultural centers, the grantee stimulated the intergenerational dialogue needed to sustain history, knowledge of human rights and its development.
The medium-length film Ask Your 89 is a narrative, dynamically compiled, visually attractive and emotionally tuned mosaic of authentic statements and the main connecting element of the project. One of the main goals of the project was to bring film and theme to high schools students and to help educators grasp our recent and important history in the teaching process. The project also included workshops with teachers based on a "methodological manual" for secondary school teachers, which were provided with the film to secondary schools.
During the project, about 68,000 viewers watched the film on TV. During other activities, the film was seen by around 4,000 viewers. It is estimated that the numbers are higher, as the film was provided to a large number of secondary and primary schools in Slovakia, cultural institutions, festivals, and an online film portal.