George Mason Students Featured in German Documentary on American Politics

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The production crew of one of Germany’s top-rated TV news programs spent National Voter Registration Day on George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus on Tuesday taping interviews with students for a 120-minute documentary on American politics. The show will air on ProSieben, Germany’s second-largest privately owned television network, on November 4.

Reporter Thilo Mischke, popular enough in his home country to be recognized by George Mason passersby, photographer Florian Baumgarten, and producer Kosei Takasaki, who doubled as sound operator, spent much of the day at Wilkins Plaza gauging student interest and intents in the coming presidential election.

Three men and a woman stand in a plaza as the woman speaks.
Government and International Politics freshman Ariel Mehmeti, a member of the Schar School’s Democracy Lab learning community, responds to questions from reporter Thilo Mischke as photographer Florian Baumgarten and producer/sound operator Kosei Takasaki record the conversation. Photos by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government
A man carrying a video camera walks behind a man in a green shirt and a woman in a blue top as another man in a black tee shirt follows them.
The ProSieben crew follows Schar School master of public policy candidate Zayd Hamid (in green) and Schar School junior Gabriella Grabovska (in blue) across the Fairfax Campus as part of the documentary.
A man in eyeglasses stands while another man puts a microphone on his jacket and two others stand nearby.
Ali Motamedi, chair of George Mason’s College Republicans organization, gets miked up for his interview with Mischke.