FILM SERIES ON THE GERMAN REUNIFICATION
Introduction before the screenings and discussion after the films. Languages: Finnish, German and English and interpretations as needed. English subtitles.
FILMS
MON 19.10.2020, at 16:30Christian Schwochow: BORNHOLMER STRASSE (2014) 88 min
Introduction: Director Kirsi Liimatainen (tbc)
Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg’s book "Der Mann, der die Mauer öffnete” about the real Lieutenant-Colonel Harald Jäger, who finally decided – on his own initiative – to open the border that night, provided the inspiration for Rainer and Heidi Schwochow’s screenplay along with several long conversations with Jäger, who is portrayed in the film by Charly Hübner as Harald Schäfer. The former border crossing on the bridge at Bornholmer Strasse has changed beyond all recognition from the images one remembers from November 1989, so the production team was forced to build its own version with wall and fortifications on open fields near Magdeburg. Other scenes were shot in the original border crossing at Marienborn – now a memorial site – and in Berlin at the nearby Swinemünder bridge which has a similar architecture.
WED 21.10.2020, at 16:30.
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck: DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN (2006) 127 min
Introduction: Claudia Daems
Oscar winner 2007! East Berlin, November 1984. Five years before its downfall, the former East-German government ensured its claim to power with a ruthless system of control and surveillance. Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend, the celebrated theater actress Christa-Maria Sieland. After all, the “operation” is backed by the highest political circles. What he didn’t anticipate, however, was that submerging oneself into the world of the target also changes the surveillance agent. The immersion in The Lives of Others – in love, literature, free thinking and speech – makes Wiesler acutely aware of the meagerness of his own existence and opens to him a completely new way of life which he has ever more trouble resisting. But the system, once started, cannot be stopped. A dangerous game has begun...
WED 28.10.2020, at 17:00, school screening at 14:30
Andreas Dresen: ALS WIR TRÄUMTEN (2015) 117 min
Introduction: Paula Rauhala, University of Tampere
The Leipzig suburbs, shortly after the collapse of East Germany. Rico, Daniel, Paul and Mark, until recently still Pioneers in their red neckerchiefs, are growing up in the maelstrom of the newly reunited country. Yesterday's rules no longer count today. They turn night into day and the streets into an adventure playground. The boys run wild and hang out in the neighbourhood, steal cars, experiment with drugs and try out the new swingers' club. They open their own disco which is soon besieged by neo-Nazi skinheads. Everything is in a state of flux and decay, everyone is overflowing with dreams: Rico longs for a boxing career; Daniel yearns to have a grand love affair with Little Star, the most beautiful girl Leipzig has ever known... Screenwriter Wolfgang Kohlhaase and director Andreas Dresen have condensed the 2006 multi-award-winning debut novel from Leipzig author Clemens Meyer into a cinematic parable about friendship and betrayal, hope and illusion, brutality and tenderness. They tell the story of a lost youth and at the same time present a tale of rebellion and the perpetual Utopian dream of great happiness. Source: 65. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)
THU 29.10.2020, at 16:30.
Andreas Dresen: GUNDERMANN (2018) 128 min
Introduction: Juha Koivisto
Biopic about East-German singer-songwriter Gerhard Gundermann (1955–1998). During the day, he worked as a digger operator in a coal mine. Yet after his shift, he successfully performed as a singer who reached the masses. In his songs, he pondered existential questions of life and death, but also didn't shy away from addressing current political and social issues. His very personal lyrics and authentic performances made him a cultural icon in the German Democratic Republic of the Eighties. At the same time, he frequently got into trouble with the authorities. After the fall of the wall, Gundermann's popularity not only remained, it even grew bigger. Even when it was revealed in 1995 that Gundermann used to be an informant for the notorious secret state police Stasi, the news didn't really tarnish his success – and though his musical career garnered him a good income, he continued to work as a digger operator. In 1998, Gerhard Gundermann passed away after suffering from a brain seizure.
SAT 31.10.2020, at 14:00
Wolfgang Becker: GOOD BYE, LENIN! (2001) 121 min
Introduction: Journalist Taina Repo
October 1989 was a bad time to fall into a coma if you lived in East Germany - and this is precisely what happens to Alex′s mother, an activist for social progress and the improvement of everyday life in socialist East Germany. Alex has a big problem on his hands when she suddenly awakens eight months later. Her heart is so weak that any shock might kill her. And what could be more shocking than the fall of the Berlin Wall and the triumph of capitalism in her beloved country? To save his mother, Alex transforms the family apartment into an island of the past, a kind of socialist museum where his mother is lovingly duped into believing that nothing has changed. What begins as a little white lie gets more and more out of hand as Alex′s mother, who feels better every day, wants to watch TV and even leaves her bed one day… In a wonderful, touching and comic manner, "Good Bye, Lenin!" tells the story of how a loving son tries to move mountains and create miracles to restore his mother to health - and keep her in the belief that Lenin really did win after all! Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH