By Staff reporter During the first two weeks of April, a group of Namibian, German and Polish students based themselves at Baumgartsbruhn, a primary school just outside Windhoek, to work on a very unique project producing a short feature film for children. The film is based on a Polish children’s book and chronicles the adventures of two very naughty school boys, who eventually set out to steal the moon because they believe they can become rich. The film project is part of a cross-culture youth project, letting young people from different countries learn from each other – said Janusz Hamerski, screenplay-writer and director, a Polish national, in an ART/Life interview. “In 2006 we had the idea of filming a story based on the Polish children’s book ‘Von Zweien, die den Mond stibitzen wollen’ – loosely translated this means ‘About two people who wanted to steal the moon’ with Namibian pupils,” he said. In essence, the book tells the story of two boys known in their village for being rascals. They spend their time playing tricks on others. They are lazy, arrogant and often thoughtless and careless. One day they decide to steal the moon, which they think consists of pure silver. They want to sell the moon so that they don’t have to work anymore. They start their journey to the hill, behind which they see the moon disappear every night. Thus begins an adventurous journey that is always a bit painful but also very instructive. Eventually the two return to their village as well-behaved, good boys. “Even though the story is based on a Polish children’s book, the plot was rewritten to suit the purposes of the film project in Namibia. Namibian, German and Polish pupils worked on the script from June last year onwards,” he said. The preparations for the project were done via a forum on the internet. The Namibian pupils and teachers were initially involved in the project during classes in their mother tongue, Khoekhoe. “Here discussions on local myths and fairy tales played a special role. After that a study group was formed, which worked on the script in cooperation with its German and Polish counterparts,” asserted Hamerski. The school Baumgartsbrunn and its surroundings were considered an ideal filming location for the project. There the moon really does seem to disappear behind the next hill. In early April, eight German students and three Polish members of the media group travelled to Namibia to participate in the production of the film. They were joined by two students from the Windhoek College of the Arts, Martha Namhadi (camera technician) and Sebastian Gowaseb (assistant director). For both students it was a learning experience. The Namibian students benefited from the technical expertise of the German and Polish students. At the same time, the European students should have learned how to adapt a film project to unfamiliar surroundings. By working with the Namibian pupils and through workshops, the European pupils were also taught how to deal with a foreign culture. For the two main characters, Wesley and Ashley, filming was absolute fun, and their acting was made easier by the fact that it was done in their home language – Damara-Nama. Years ago identical twin brothers, Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, starred in the same movie. Today they are governing Poland as Prime Minister and President respectively. Who knows what the future holds for the two young Namibians! A documentary on the film will be screened by the NBC, while the actual film will also be screened later this year.