Bornholm Street

Bornholmer Straße

MS12

Genre

Comedy, Drama

Director

Christian Schwochow

Run time

1h 32min

Cast

Charly Hübner, Milan Peschel, Ulrich Matthes, Rainer Bock, Ludwig Trepte, Frederick Lau

9 November 1989. Günther Schabowski announces that from this day forward all citizens of the German Democratic Republic are allowed to leave the country as they wish. Harald Schäfer, the commanding officer at the border checkpoint in Bornholm Street learns the news while sitting in the canteen at work. This sounds strange to him; after all, he is devoted to his country. Soon, masses of Eastern Berliners line up at the Bornholm Street checkpoint and hours of drama begin. Harald and his colleagues wait for instructions from their superiors, but don’t get any. The situation gets tenser and tenser as more and more people flow to the checkpoint, loudly demanding to be let into the Federal Republic of Germany. Everything becomes more reminiscent of Kafka with each passing minute, and Harald’s political beliefs start to crumble. As the situation begins to get out of hand, Schäfer makes the decision to take responsibility for letting people cross the border.

"It's a heroic story that celebrates the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall from an unexpected point of view; it’s funny, but at the same time pathetic and very serious. The border between the two Germanys becomes the setting for a tragic political farce. Hilariously absurd dialogues, wonderful execution and a great team, with fantastic Charly Hübner in the lead role, make for a great film." - Thomas Geringer

Germany 2014

Genre

Comedy, Drama

Director

Christian Schwochow

Run time

1h 32min

Cast

Charly Hübner, Milan Peschel, Ulrich Matthes, Rainer Bock, Ludwig Trepte, Frederick Lau

9 November 1989. Günther Schabowski announces that from this day forward all citizens of the German Democratic Republic are allowed to leave the country as they wish. Harald Schäfer, the commanding officer at the border checkpoint in Bornholm Street learns the news while sitting in the canteen at work. This sounds strange to him; after all, he is devoted to his country. Soon, masses of Eastern Berliners line up at the Bornholm Street checkpoint and hours of drama begin. Harald and his colleagues wait for instructions from their superiors, but don’t get any. The situation gets tenser and tenser as more and more people flow to the checkpoint, loudly demanding to be let into the Federal Republic of Germany. Everything becomes more reminiscent of Kafka with each passing minute, and Harald’s political beliefs start to crumble. As the situation begins to get out of hand, Schäfer makes the decision to take responsibility for letting people cross the border.

"It's a heroic story that celebrates the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall from an unexpected point of view; it’s funny, but at the same time pathetic and very serious. The border between the two Germanys becomes the setting for a tragic political farce. Hilariously absurd dialogues, wonderful execution and a great team, with fantastic Charly Hübner in the lead role, make for a great film." - Thomas Geringer

Germany 2014

Info

Rating

Under 12 Not Recommended

Production year

2014

Global distributor

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Local distributor

Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival MTÜ

In cinema

11/18/2014