"The Edukators"

This sounds like the type of film that we'll never see at our local theater:

A German film about a group of youths who dream of changing the world energized the Cannes film festival Monday, putting it among the frontrunners for the Palme d'Or best film award.

Adding to the strong political current running through this year's festival, ... 28-year-old director Hans Weingartner brings "The Edukators."

The first German film to compete in Cannes in 11 years, it tells the story of three idealistic youths who break into rich people's villas and move around their furniture, leaving behind notes with messages such as: "You have too much money."

Their aim is not to steal from the rich to give to the poor, but to make their targets question their privileges. When they are surprised by one of the homeowners, they kidnap him and are forced to put their ideals into practice.

The Austrian-born director, who is also a qualified neurosurgeon, said the story was inspired by his own frustration at the lack of political ideals among his generation and the suffocating impact of advertising and media images.

"We don't know where to put our revolutionary energy and we don't know how to fight the system because we can't grab it, we don't know how to attack it," he said. "The system has become so invulnerable because it sells revolution to us."

Weingartner avoids a simplistic ending, but leaves open the possibility that each of them is changed by the experience.

"I am not calling for revolution with this film. It was much more important to me to emphasize how important it is to be critical and to question the status quo," he said.

Read more about it from Reuters.