Almania

Frank Stimpel (Phil Laude) is a teacher with a fixed life plan and a predetermined career as a civil servant. Both are shaken when he is transferred from his small-town school to a ‘hotspot school’ because of a racist slogan. Here, Mr. Stimpel is faced with pedagogical hardship and extreme emotional situations that were not foreseen in the ‘Handbook for Teachers at Problem Schools’. But perhaps this will turn the neurotic control freak into an empathetic, “heartfelt” teacher after all? Comedian Phil Laude, founding member of the award-winning comedy trio Y-Titty, first established his teacher Stimpel as a typical ‘Alman’ in short YouTube clips. Together with SWR, he developed the gruesomely satirical TV series “Almania”, in which everyone really gets their comeuppance, but above all the typical German over-correctness: Stimpel is not considered the most Prussian potato among all the “empty bodies” for nothing. In “Almania”, however, there is a lot of heart behind all the not at all subtle humor - and above all in the right place. "The series succeeds where many educational formats fail: it manages to be entertaining, political and authentic at the same time. The look is reminiscent of ‘Stromberg’ or ‘The Office’, including a mockumentary style with camera angles and an ironic twist. But despite the humor, the social seriousness of the subject matter remains palpable - whether it's everyday racism, equal opportunities or language barriers in the classroom. The series also dispenses with clichés. Here, young people with a migration background are not just caricatures, but complex, true-to-life characters. The teaching staff are not glorified, but questioned. The fact that this works is also due to the consistently strong cast." (Jennifer Ulrich, on: watson.de) ----------- Teacher Frank Stimpel has to prove himself at his new school. But his first week is like a rollercoaster ride. He loses the respect of his class, the police even show up, and his boss Aminata threatens to fire him. Student Osman challenges his authority, influencer Leyla “disses” him as a “Nazi teacher,” teacher Sara picks on him for no reason, and his buddy Yunus annoys him because he can't decide whether he wants to live with him or not. When the police show up at the school, his boss Aminata would like nothing more than to fire Stimpel, but she needs the German teacher.