Rabbits a la Berlin

This is the trailer for a new short documentary that has been nominated for an Academy Award that is called Rabbits a la Berlin. It is the story of a colony of rabbits that lived in the meadow between a 120 kilometer section of the Berlin Wall in which there were actually two walls that ran parallel to each other. The space between them was commonly referred to as a "death zone"--a free-fire zone in which any human seen crossing was usually shot.

The space, however, was also home to a large colony of rabbits that continued to exist, ironically protected from all the things that previously threatened their existence. They were safe from humans, natural predators and free to do what rabbits do anyway, procreate extensively, in the lush meadow.

In an unusual twist, the narrator of the film turns this freedom metaphor on its head. The rabbits, while free from danger, lose their "edge." They become passive, overfed and apathetic, much like the East German workers.

When the Wall comes down, the rabbits, like the humans find themselves "free" along with all the insecurities that come with it. Sounds amazing and well worth seeing.