The Chosen Ones (german: Die Auserwählten) is a 2014 drama film directed by

Christoph Röhl Christoph Röhl (born 1967 in Brighton) is a British-German filmmaker. Early life and education Christoph Röhl was born in Brighton to an English father, the historian John C. G. Röhl, and a German mother Rosemarie von Berg. He read History an ...

. It was premiered at the

Munich Film Festival Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

in 2014 and was first broadcast on 1 October 2014. The film tells the story of a well-publicized child sexual abuse scandal at the

Odenwaldschule The Odenwaldschule was a German school located in Heppenheim in the Odenwald. Founded in 1910, it was Germany's oldest '' Landerziehungsheim'', a private boarding school located in a rural setting. Edith and Paul Geheeb established it using ...

, a German private boarding school known for its progressive education.

Production

''The Chosen Ones'' is a fictionalized account of a sexual abuse scandal that took place at the Odenwaldschule. The abuse first came to light in 1998 when two former pupils reported their abuse. Their story appeared in the

Frankfurter Rundschau The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (FR) is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. It is published every day but Sunday as a city, two regional and one nationwide issues and offers an online edition (see link below) as well as an e-pa ...

but was not reported on by other media outlets. The story resurfaced in 2010 when it was revealed that more than 130 pupils had been sexually abused by and at least 8 teachers in the 1970s and 1980s. Recent studies have subsequently established that between 500 and 900 children were abused at the school. Director Christoph Röhl was an English tutor at the school from 1989 to 1991. In 2011 he dealt with the same subject matter in the documentary film '' We're Not The Only Ones'' (German: ''Und wir sind nicht die Einzigen''). After lengthy negotiations, the board of directors at the Odenwaldschule granted the filmmakers permission for their film to be shot on their premises. In 2015, two years after the film was completed, the Odenwaldschule was forced to close.

Awards

* Nomination Prix Europa 2014 * Winner New York Festival 2014 – Gold World Medal * Winner ZOOM Igualada Festival 2014 – Best Fiction Film * Nomination Deutscher Hörfilmpreis 2015 – Best TV Movie

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chosen Ones 2014 films 2014 television films 2014 drama films German drama television films 2010s German-language films Films set in the 1970s Films set in the 1980s Films set in West Germany Films set in boarding schools 2010s German films Das Erste original programming