November 9, 1989: At the Bornholmer Straße border crossing in Berlin, the border guards of the DDR and their customs colleagues are astonished by the statement that Günter Schabowski, member of the East German Politburo, reads out at a televised press conference: with immediate effect, all citizens of the GDR can request a trip to western foreign countries. In their euphoria, many people don’t notice that a passport and visa would be necessary: they hurry to the nearest border crossing. Even so, Lieutenant-Colonel Schäfer and his subordinates have no idea what will lie ahead of them this night. It ends with the opening of the border –the beginning of the end of the GDR. BORNHOLMER STRAßE is a captivatingly ironic and surprisingly moving comedy on the edge of despair, about heroes who absolutely don’t want to become them.
Director: Christian Schwochow, Germany, 2014
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