"Just a Fake - Forgery Workshop"

Truth or lie? Fictional caption or verified headline for the latest news? Believable news or manipulations from a well-made green screen studio that seemingly conjures credibility? Students at Friedensburg High School kicked off the seminar "Just a Fake – Forgery Workshop" with three stations exploring these questions in a "FakeLab." The resulting films approach the issue of forgery and manipulation in the media landscape of young people in very different ways.

Seminar impressions on Flickr

Since 2011, an annual media seminar has been held at the wannseeFORUM for students in the "Media and Communication" courses at Friedensburg High School. Each year, it addresses current issues in media and political education that connect to the lives of 8th and 9th grade students. The topic and content are also developed within the framework of the federal model program "Political Youth Education in the AdB," focusing on "Digital Media and Democracy," in which the wannseeFORUM participates.

In 2017, the focus of the workshop was on fake news, manipulation of text, images, and film materials, fake accounts, and conspiracy theories. What interests and intentions lie behind their creation, publication, and dissemination? Following research and discussions, the three parallel film workshop groups developed ideas for using cinematic techniques to tell their own stories about fake news and fiction. This also involved trying out tips and tricks for forging and manipulating information themselves, in order to better recognize and evaluate these tactics in their own media consumption later on.
During the public presentation to a large audience, the participants also presented the process of developing and implementing their ideas.

Some of the films can be viewed on Vimeo.

The seminar took place as part of the "Political Youth Education in the AdB" within the "Digital Media and Democracy"  . It was funded by the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family.