Orange Lutheran High

Unique documentary about the Orange Lutheran High School in California. Exciting until the last minutes. Very dense plot and special camera style.

"Welcome to the Land of boundless possibilities", student Tobias shouts out to his future classmates as the Delta Airline plane flies over America. But actually it is the land of impossible possibilities, because there are three changes. For example in Atlanta, where German exchange students experience talking elevators for the first time and advertising for the 1996 Olympic Games is in full swing. After that, the young people hang out in a mall for hours before the onward flight. And while some German schoolchildren are happy to finally experience the promised land, others have been persuaded by their parents to get to know America. Completely exhausted, the tour group finally arrives at midnight by bus at the Lutheran High School in Orange, California after the 24-hour journey and experiences a warm welcome from the future host families.

Nevertheless, the teenagers have to be at school by 9 o'clock the next morning. From now on, the filmmaker will always be picked up and driven to school by Greg and his exchange daughter Andrea with the huge pickup truck. Greg lets his favorite band Nirvana play in the car and is amazed at the general knowledge of German teenagers. This multi-layered documentary illuminates the relationship between young Germans and young Americans. Shows many prejudices and differences. The documentary also shows the difference to the American school system. This becomes clear once again when you see how the German teacher Christian Ribitzki teaches. While he and his wife Annette stand for strictness and discipline, his American counterpart in the form of the American teacher Rogar Walk is often foolish and likes to be freaky as he jumps around the classroom for fun. There is still a constant conflict between the teacher Christian and student Dorothea. But there are also contemplative moments when, for example, the teacher Christian sings "It never rains in California" with his acoustic guitar in class and the students hesitantly get on. Or the school group is performing plays.

The social gradient of housing in Orange is very strong. A part of the group is housed very lavishly in villas with a swimming pool with the host parents, who fly to Hawaii or Las Vegas with their young guests at the weekend. Other students arrive in poorer circumstances. Like Tobias, for example, a boarding school student from a good family. He now sleeps with his American host family on an air mattress next to the dog basket. Vanessa does not sleep a wink every night because her hosts children are constantly jumping around. She wants a new host family.

While the filmmaker catches a classmate off guard, an American boy calls him "pretty cool". Tobias, who is a bit taken for a ride by the German group, makes contact with the Americans more quickly. The German youth are secretly considered arrogant, serious and blasphemous by the American youth. The statement by the Germans that there are only slim or fat people in America is very sweeping. A meeting of different cultures and nevertheless the beginning of friendships that will later last for decades. The students pull a lot of pranks on each other, imitate the teachers and have fun. Crazy gags and situational comedy. They are in a new world. The fitness craze of American high school students, who train in the school's studio, also rubs off to some extent on German students likes Jan and Mohamed.

But there is also sentimentality when the filmmaker is embraced by strange women and a burly lady named Daisy gives him a valuable football shirt or shows him her dead daughter's mustang. We go horseback riding with Andrea and her parents' Haflingers. A rifle ranch is also visited. The film has very varied moments when the Universal studios are visited, where Arnold Schwarzenegger is traveling with his family. Sea World in San Diego is being watched and also a baseball game of the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. The focus of the documentary is then more and more concentrated on five protagonists. Kai, Sven, Denis, Patrick and Tobias also interview each other in the amusement parks. At the same time, it becomes clear how critically young Germans perceive the parks as "American kitsch or junk". In fact, the viewer of this film gets to see many places, because every afternoon after class, the school bus of the German youth group heads for a different destination. Sometimes there are even no lessons, in addition to all the attractions there is L. A. Sightseeing; Police Department, Jail and Courthouse Tour, Disneyland, Pool Party, Farwell Party, Food at Planet Hollywood, South Coast Plaza, Knotts Berry Farm, Orange County Fair, Wild Rivers, Mexico. Excursions to San Francisco, Malibu Beach, Venice Beach and Newport Beach are also available. The filmmaker briefly hands his camera over to his classmate Patrick in Venice to continue filming while he himself is surfing. Tobias and Philipp have been forgotten because both had to go to the toilet for a moment. The coach left without her. The two boys are standing relatively lost on a boulevard in Los Angeles and have a queasy feeling when a larger clique of gang members approaches them. It becomes clear how quickly moods can change and that it is not without danger for young Germans to walk alone on the streets of America in the evenings. The two boys are looking for a coin speaker and Tobias calls his host mother Shawnna. This takes an hour for the route and then she arrives at nightfall. Shawnna is beside herself with anger at the organizer how something like this could have happened. Her tantrum about the irresponsibility of leaving the youngsters alone on such a badly traveled road lasts the entire drive back. Panic, drama and she yells at the teacher Christian the next day in high school.

Tobias is shown with Kai at his host father's house in the evening. Sean has four jobs at the same time to be able to support his family. He plays "Come As You Are" by Nirvana on his electric guitar, while his cousin joins in with a beautiful voice. While the protagonists have disappeared from the picture, you can still hear Sean and his cousin singing. In addition, you can see in different shots how the German tour group says goodbye to their host families on the school parking lot after a service. Tears flow, warm hugs, balloons are released. The bus takes you to the airport and changes in New York. In time-lapse recordings and quick cuts, the hours are condensed while the young people are waiting for their return flight and buying ties in the mall. The beautiful singing ends with a hard cut and the German reality at the airport in Frankfurt breaks in, as two of the students Jens and Philipp are intercepted by customs on arrival. They had forgotten to declare once their clothes and once their cigarettes. And while the teenager's parents hold up a large sign that reads "Welcome back to Germany", the merciless German customs staff search the boy's entire suitcase on the control belt. Socks and underwear are spread out, strange passengers who pass by watch in embarrassment. The seventeen-year-old student has a red face. He wants to sink into the ground in shame, while his parents are waiting outside at the security checkpoint and can only see him through a glass pane. Fine is paid by the student. The German tour group of young people has broken up, everyone is going home with their parents.