Coming Out

About the film

Philipp, a high school teacher in East Berlin, lives with his colleague Tanja, but harbors a deeply hidden secret. A chance reunion with a former lover and his relationship with Matthias, a young man he meets in a gay bar, awaken feelings he has long suppressed. Faced with the choice between conformity and honesty, Philipp must decide whether to come out and live as his true self.

1989 / 113 min. / Germany
Director: Heiner Carow
Cast: Matthias Freihof, Dagmar Manzel, Dirk Kummer, Michael Gwisdek, Werner Dissel and others

Highlights

Coming Out is the only movie produced by the former East German state film studio DEFA that portrays homosexuality. It premiered on 9 November 1989, the very day the Berlin Wall fell, and went on to win both the Silver Bear and the Teddy Award at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. Set in East Berlin at a time when homosexuality was considered socially deviant, it features real gay bars and actual individuals, offering a vivid record of the lives of people living under repression and discrimination.