Werner Baensch

How the human right to freedom, dignity and inviolability are represented in practice - from the Middle Ages to the present day.

A wolf wants to catch a sheep. The flock is well guarded. He puts on a sheepskin, but the animals laugh at him. So he dresses up completely as a sheep, practicing his gait and bleating. When he goes hunting in this disguise, he is eaten by another wolf.

Thumbelina is born in a calyx. A bumblebee opens the flower and the little one goes on a journey of discovery. She has to hide from a nubile frog in a nut and lands on a water lily leaf. A fish bites through the stem of the leaf. Thumbelina swims down the stream until she is called to dance by a cockchafer. The dance fails and the beetle pushes her off the leaf into the depths. She falls into a spider's web and onto a dandelion. She sails away with an umbrella of seeds and lands on her calyx again. The autumn storm breaks the flower. Thumbelina finds shelter with a field mouse. There she cares for a sick swallow. The mouse wants to marry Thumbelina off to the mole, but the little girl manages to escape with the help of the swallow. They both fly off to the sunny south.

A girl is sitting in the garden doing schoolwork and is distracted by butterflies flying around. She throws away her pen and runs after the butterflies. Meanwhile, a little ink devil forms at the tip of the quill and gets up to all sorts of mischief.

A cage is searching for a bird, but all its efforts fail. Without its help, a bird finds a way in. The cage closes its door and stands proudly on a pedestal, for it is now worthy of admiration.

The fumes emanating from a traffic jam make everybody, and every animal, cough.

Two neighbours argue about which one of them should get rid of a pile of rubbish.

Animated short film based on Andersen's tale.