The Last Summer of the GDR: Freedom and Anarchy

Nov 14, 2024

0h 44m

★ 0.0

Overview

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, citizens of East Germany had to get used to a new way of consuming, working, and living. New-found freedoms were a breath of fresh air for many but in the chaos leading up to reunification with West Germany, the experience was also disconcerting.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

fernsehkombinat GmbH & Co. KG

The Last Summer of the GDR: Freedom and Anarchy Trailers

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Cast

Self - Narrator (voice)

Susanne Reuter

Two families attempt a daredevil plan to escape the GDR with a homemade hot air balloon, but it crashes just before the border. The Stasi finds traces of this attempt to escape and immediately starts investigations, while the two families are forced to build a new escape balloon. With each passing day the Stasi is closer on their heels – a nerve-wracking race against time begins.

0.0

Whispers of Freedom

Nov 1, 2024

Described by Deadline Hollywood as the "tragic true story" of Chris Gueffroy, it follows one of the last daring attempts to escape across the infamous Berlin Wall.

7.0

Grenze

Aug 3, 2004

In February 1986 they received the call of a fatherland that no longer exists: four young GDR citizens on the verge of adulthood see themselves forced, like so many others in East and West Germany, to do their one and a half years of military service. What is special: Their service area is the border system, an anti-imperialist protective wall according to their superiors, death strips and prison bars for a population incapacitated in naked reality. Now, seventeen years later, there is a reunion with the comrades and the old post. This feature film, which was the first in reunified Germany to deal with the inner workings of the GDR border troops, tells of life on the fence, the associated contradictions and some hot phases in the Cold War.

0.0

The Indestructibles

May 15, 2021

East Germany, 1986. When her sister flees to West Berlin, the life of a young East German woman is turned upside down as she must justify her involvement in the escape to the authorities and decide between her family and her own safety.

9.0

Stasi: A State Against Its People

Oct 3, 2021

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, thousands of documents were hastily shredded by the dreaded GDR political police. 16,000 bags filled with six million pieces of paper were found. Thanks to the meticulous work of technology, the destinies of men and women who had been spied on and recorded without their knowledge could be reconstructed.

8.0

Der Reichstag

Dec 19, 2017

Docudrama telling the story of a building with a breath taking career that began in the empire, flourished in the Weimar Republic, perished in the Nazi dictatorship, and was rebuilt after its partial destruction.

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0.0

In the Splendour of Happiness

Jan 1, 1990

Citizens of East Germany talk about their experiences and feelings in the face of upcoming elections that will lead to reunification with the West. The past is tinged with regret, frustration and anger, while the future is uncertain.

7.3

I Was Nineteen

Feb 1, 1968

A young soldier enters Germany with Soviet troops at the end of WWII, feeling like a stranger in his homeland. As he meets Germans, he grapples with his ambivalence, realizing he is both a victor and one of the vanquished. His inquisitive nature leads him to confront the atrocities and lies he encounters along the way.

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0.0

An deutschen Tischen

Oct 4, 2000

Documentation about the intra-German relations after the reunification.

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Trotz und Treue: Das Phänomen Sahra Wagenknecht

Jun 13, 2024

2024 is likely to be a decisive year for Sahra Wagenknecht's political future. In the arena of power, she might assume a role that she is already very familiar with. In the early years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Sahra Wagenknecht became the "most famous face" of the PDS, the successor party to the SED. Yet, even as the youngest member of the party's executive board, she was considered a "disruptive factor." She is unyielding and swims against the tide. Sahra Wagenknecht does not distance herself from Stalinism, nor from the Berlin Wall, and wishes for a reformed GDR.

7.0

whisper & SHOUT

Oct 20, 1988

Documents important parts of the East German rock music scene of the late 1980s, from well-established bands like Silly, to underground rock bands like Feeling B. This road movie features young people using music to express their take on life, opposition to their parents' generation and opinions on the social and political climate in East Germany. It includes clips from concerts and interviews with fans and members of various bands, such as Feeling B's Christian Lorenz and Paul Landers, now members of Rammstein.

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0.0

Sieg im Osten

Oct 5, 1993

The army of the GDR, called NVA had not survived the reunification of Germany, it was completely absorbed by the Bundeswehr and scrapped subsequently. But what apparently went on so smoothly as a peaceful unification of hostile brothers quietly left deep scars in the East German landscape.

0.0

Sternenklar

Apr 15, 2022

East-Berlin, 1980. Two sisters, one professional fleeing assistant and one soldier. And an escape that could go either way...

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0.0

Junge Deutsche im Mai

Invalid Date

Every year, the most beautiful, best and proudest representatives of German youth meet in Dresden to take to the streets together.

0.0

Märkische Heide, Märkischer Sand

Oct 10, 1990

Volker Koepp revisits Zehdenick and Grüneberg, East Germany. People are struggling with the new political and economical conditions shortly before the German Reunification.

0.0

Infinite Place

Oct 3, 2024

Loitz is one of those former GDR towns that still suffer from the effects of German reunification. For a year "Infinite Place" looks behind the gray facade of the seemingly dying town and questions concepts of home and identity through the perspective of its old and new inhabitants. The town’s vacancy and people’s urge for self-realization create a fruitful look into the future.

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5.0

Comrade Couture

Feb 7, 2009

This film undertakes a journey into the amazing parallel universe of East Berlin’s fashion designers and experts in the art of survival. For, in the midst of the constraints of life in the GDR, there existed a fantasy world where it was possible to dance to another tune, be individual and even provocative. The most important characteristic of this bohemian scene was one’s per- sonal style. But this certainly wasn’t something that could be bought off the peg in the GDR. In this parallel universe it was up to you to create your own individual image – with your own hands. This film tells the story of the desires, the passion and the dreams that were tried and tested, lived and performed in the shadow of the Berlin Wall.

0.0

The Spies Among Us

Mar 8, 2025

Thirty years after the Cold War ends, a former political prisoner of the East German secret police searches for the truth after learning his brother spied on him for the regime, and discovers the lasting effects of living in a surveillance state.

0.0

The Hell of Ueckermünde

Jan 1, 1993

This report was broadcast on ARD in 1993. In 43 minutes, the development of psychiatry "in the third year after reunification" is shown using two institutions in the new federal states as examples. A touchstone for all of psychiatry and disability care to this day. The film shows a shocking way in which disabled people are treated. The commentary uses the perspective of those affected. 50 years after euthanasia in Germany, this documentary reminds us of this once again.

7.4

The Silent Revolution

Mar 1, 2018

Stalinstadt, East Germany, 1956. While the Hungarian uprising against Soviets is taking place, teenage members of a classroom of the local school perform a seemingly harmless act that causes unexpected consequences.

The Last Summer of the GDR: Freedom and Anarchy

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Last Summer of the GDR: Freedom and Anarchy Trailers