An East German teacher has a sexual awakening following a fateful night in a gay bar in this powerful story of love and self-acceptance, originally released on the night the Berlin Wall fell.
High school teacher Philipp (Matthias Freihof) starts a whirlwind relationship with a female colleague. However, an encounter with a man from his past triggers a journey of self-discovery, and a fateful night in a gay bar changes his life, leading to a romance with another man (Dirk Kummer).
Heiner Carow, an established filmmaker in East Germany, directed this powerful story of gay love and self-acceptance, released in 1989, just as Germany, and, indeed, Europe were about to change, forever. It was one of the last films released by DEFA (the East German film studio) and premiered on 9 November 1989, the same night the Berlin Wall fell. The film features wonderful scenes in East Berlin’s gay hangouts, the legendary Zum Burgfrieden and Schoppenstube bars.