Directed by Michael Herbig. Screenplay by Kit Hopkins, Thilo Röscheisen, and Michael Herbig.
Germany, 2018, 125 min., in German with English subtitles.
Even if you already know the story of two East German families who built a hot-air balloon and flew it to safety in West Germany in 1979, you will still be transfixed by this suspenseful thriller. Aided by a soaring score, Balloon keeps viewers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end, recreating a time and place where everyone is under constant surveillance and the cost of keeping secrets can be fatal. And so we follow the Strelzyk Family (Friedrich Mücke and Karoline Schuch) as they make a desperate, failed attempt to escape. Leaving behind their homemade airship, they must return to their home in the East, pretending that all is well while starting over. Meanwhile, Stasi chief Seidel (a chilling Thomas Kretschmann) brings the full weight of the government to bear in finding and punishing those who dream of freedom. When Seidel asks, “What would we be without borders? They define us,” Balloon's resonance becomes frighteningly clear.—Dave Nuttycombe
Presented in partnership with the DC Filmfest.
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