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Sonnenallee, Germany 1999

Western pop music is banned and asthma medication is the only recreational drug available. According to the official line, the Berlin Wall is a bulwark against fascists and the rest of the world is the enemy of the people. Such is Michael’s homeland, the GDR.

Michael lives on the East German end of a street that is cut in two by the Berlin wall. He and his friends wear bell-bottoms and home-printed t-shirts and listen in secret to Western pop.
Michael’s father watches Western TV, his mother is secretly trying to escape with a stolen passport, and his West German uncle supplies the family with hidden treats. To top matters off, their next-door neighbour is a suspected Stasi spy.
But Michael is more interested in girls, and his efforts are focused on winning the heart of the prettiest girl at school. A film about life in the seventies at the tail end of Sun Alley, in the shadow of the Berlin Wall…

“A lively, beautifully played coming-of-ager that takes a comic look at an era usually portrayed through bleak dramas or espionage thrillers.” Variety

Director: Leander Haussmann
Producers: Claus Boje, Detlev Buck
Screenplay: Detlev Buck, Leander Haussmann.
Based on the novel by Thomas Brussig
Cinematography: Peter-Joachim Krause
Editor: Sandy Saffeels
Music: Stephen Keusch, Paul Lemp

With: Alexander Scheer (Micha), Alexander Beyer (Mario), Katharina Thalbach, (Micha’s mother) Teresa Weissbach (Miriam), Detlev Buck (ABV), Henry Hübchen (Micha’s father), Ingnaz Kirchner (Uncle Heinz), Robert Stadlober (Wuschel), Annika Kuhl (Sabine), Elena Meissner (Sabrina), Horst Lebinsky (Grenzer), Martin Moeller (Kosscke), Patrick Güldenberg (Appel), David Müller (Brötchen)

In German with English subtitles

85 mins, DV

M sexual references

Hamilton Film Society
Monday 22 March, 8.00pm

Tauranga Film Society
Wednesday 14 April, 6.20pm

West Melton and Districts Film Society
Thursday 6 May, 7.30pm

Palmerston North Film Society
Wednesday 2 June, 5.30pm

Canterbury Film Society
Monday 14 June, 6.30pm

Waitati Film Society
Tuesday 22 June, 8.00pm