Producer
Direction
Producer
Genre
Transmitter
Length
Editor
Year
"A life next door" shows bizarre and adventurous living environments.
What drives people to flee, how do they set up their new lives and how big is the difference between them and us "normal citizens"?
What fascination do the different subcultures exert?
Because apparently they offer something that the "real" world cannot offer people.
A platform in the sea, slightly smaller than a handball court, around 20 meters above sea level: the Principality of Sealand lies around ten kilometers off the east coast of England.
In terms of international law, it does not exist.
A visit to the princely family, Michael Bates and his children, tells the opposite.
In 1942, the fortress was anchored at sea as an air defense against the German invaders, and in 1966 it was occupied by Roy Bates, an ex-army major and radio pirate.
He called his station "Britain's Better Music Station" and Sealand his state.
In the early years, Roy Bates resolutely resisted attempts to evict him.
He once stood trial in an English court for shooting at the navy.
The verdict: "not responsible" for waters outside England.
Since then, there has been a "truce" between the Principality and the United Kingdom.
The biggest enemy is now - rust.
But Sealand remains Sealand: a wind-powered utopia with its own anthem and sympathizers all over the world.
First broadcast: Friday, August 19, 2011, 10:05 p.m., ZDF.Kultur.
