Berlin, Schoenhauser Corner (Berlin, Ecke Schönhauser...)

The Goethe-Institut Ottawa's monthly thematic film series on German cinema at Saint Paul University presents:

Berlin, Schoenhauser Corner (Berlin, Ecke Schönhauser...)

German Democratic Republic 1957, 82 min.
DEFA
Director: Gerhard Klein
With: Harry Engel, Ilse Pagé, Ekkehard Schall, Raimund Schelcher und Ernst-Georg Schwill

Based on a screenplay by Wolfgang Kohlhaase.

It’s the late fifties in Berlin. The busy Schönhauser Allee in the Eastern part of the city is the meeting point of a group of rebellious teenagers. Dieter, a construction worker, is looking for freedom on the street, "Kohle" is fleeing from his constantly drunken and violent stepfather, Karl-Heinz is already on the criminal track, and Angela has to make room at home when her mother receives her boyfriend. The world of West Berlin seems to be very enticing and Karl-Heinz wants to flee there. When he tries to drag Dieter and "Kohle" into his dark business, the two flee to West Berlin, where they initially end up in a reception camp.

Berlin after the war and before the construction of the Wall, the individual districts are divided into occupation zones. The city is in upheaval - and with it, the people who live in it. What was important before is no longer valid. Berlin, Schoenhauser Corner is the story of a group of young people in East Berlin, searching for orientation and their place in this society.