SHOTLIST 1. Street scene in Berlin Kreuzberg neighbourhood
2. Exterior of "Alles Fliesst" wine shop in Berlin's Kreuzberg neighbourhood
3. Close up of sign outside shop showing "Berliners" pan of sign reading "change" down to "Berliner regional - regional money for Berlin-Brandenburg"
4. Mid shot of sign outside wine shop
5. Shop owner Erika Baierl standing inside wine shop
6. Mid shot of "Berliner" brochure at counter in wine shop accepting local currency
7. SOUNDBITE (German) Erika Baierl, wine shop owner:
"For me it is important to stabilise regional circulation, and for me it is important to keep alive a vibrant neighbourhood life, and it is important that a variety of small shops exist. And these small shops have to be supported, that is where the Berliner comes in."
8. Wide of shop
9. SOUNDBITE (German) Erika Baierl, wine shop owner:
"At the moment is doesn't really add up, that one can say 'wow, this really pays off." But it is rather slowly slipping into people's awareness because of rising communication within the neighbourhood."
10. Wide of woman behind organic grocery store accepting local currency
11. Close up of cash register showing sum
12. Mid shot of customer putting local currency "Berliner" on counter to pay with it
13. Close-up of store employee taking local currency
14. Mid shot of customer taking bought food and leaving
15. SOUNDBITE (German) customer, vox pop:
"I appreciate that they (those introducing local currencies) are trying to oppose the compromising of values taking place everywhere."
16. Close-up of authenticity of "Berliner" local currency being checked under black light
17. Mid shot of cash register being closed
18. Exterior of organic grocery store in Kreuzberg neighbourhood
19. Close-up of map showing Kreuzberg neighbourhood with shops and places accepting local currency marked
20. Wide of map, reading "Here you can pay with BERLINER"
21. SOUNDBITE (German) Susanne Thomas, Gruene Liga:
"I can pay with the Berliner in 190 shops now, and it is raising the quality of life. Additionally, a donation system is integrated into the currency system. Without the customer losing buying power, he is donating to social projects in the neighbourhood."
22. Close-up of Berliner
23. Poster promoting Berliner and various Berliner notes
STORYLINE:
Concern about the impact of globalisation and distant multinational corporations on their communities and locally owned businesses is just one of the reasons why 20 local currencies have begun circulating in Germany in preference to the Euro.
The Berliner, issued by a local environmental group, is one of around 20 local currencies that have begun circulating over the past five years in Germany.
About 10,000 Berliners have been issued, printed by the Bundesdruckerei, the privatised former state printer, which also produces euros for Germany's central bank.
They are accepted in 190 Berlin shops, many of them in Kreuzberg, a stronghold of Berlin's counterculture, and the environmental Green Party.
The Berliner is issued by the Gruene Liga, or Green League environmental organisation, at wine shops, cafes, a church, and a local alternative school.
"For me it is important to keep alive a vibrant neighbourhood life, and it is important that a variety of small shops exist. And these small shops have to be supported, that is where the Berliner comes in," said wine shop owner Erika Baierl.
She added that the use of the currency is beginning to take off:
Shops get only 95 cents back for each Berliner, with 3 percent going to local causes such as children's farm, a playground, and a church program for teens overcoming drug problems.
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