It’s a little bit Paula’s fault. It all began in 2010. Paula is the daughter of good friends, at this time they lived in Beijing and was turning three years old. I was invited to dinner and wanted Paula to bring a gift. But which one?
My sisters are also to blame. A few years ago they bought this film as a real 8mm film without soundtrack and then had it converted to DVD.
And it is my father’s fault. He used to show us this movie with his film projector, when I was a little boy. Thanks to him, “All help Teddy” became one of the first films I can remember consciously. Later the film reel was lost.
But ultimaltely I want to thank Paula, because she made me have the idea to give this silent movie a sound, voices and music.
My colleague Gerd Breckling spontaneously decided to help and donated his voice to the “Rabbit”. I spoke the remaining voices and together we placed noises and music in the silent film Teddy for Paula. At my friends place we installed a video projector and sound equipment. Paula had her first real cinema experience and she sat in the front row.
Paula’s wide open eyes while watching the movie and her enthusiasm, got me the idea of having this film dubbed into other languages as a non profit project. Somehow it´s a gift for all children in the world.
Thanks to the support of the Progress-Filmverleih and the DEFA Foundation in Berlin this project became possible.