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THE
GDR COMPLEX
Subpages in English (menu left) are still under construction. For the time being please check out www.the-gdr-complex.de
or go to our German
page or visit our Facebook page of the film.
SYNOPSIS (English) - For SYNOPSIS
in French, Spanish & Italian pls. scoll down or click here!
1.
Today, more than 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fight
for the prerogative of the historical interpretation and political
relevance of the former
GDR (German Democratic Republic) seems more
intense than ever.
Mario Roellig, born 1967, was raised in a family loyal to the state and
to the ruling SED party. Mario worked as a waiter at the restaurant in
the transit zone of the Berlin Schoenefeld Airport in the GDR. In 1985,
on a vacation in Budapest, Roellig began an affair with an older male
politician from West Berlin. After meeting more-or-less secretly in
East Berlin and in Budapest, Roellig decided to flee to the West, but
got unlucky and, in 1987 was detained for several months in the Stasi
detention centre in Berlin Hohenschoenhausen. Six months after his
release, the West German government purchased his freedom and he
received permission to leave the GDR. In 1999 he ran into his former
Stasi interrogator and suffered a nervous breakdown.
Being gay, resilient, young and conservative, Mario Roellig became one
of the youngest and most in-demand witnesses to the atrocities of the
GDR. He guides groups through today’s memorial site in the former Stasi
(GRD State Security Services) prison where he was once incarcerated.
Roellig speaks to school classes all over Germany and has been invited
to universities abroad. He thinks he has told his story more than one
thousand five hundred times.
Roellig is not an intellectual. Yet he claims that his personal history
made him become a political person. He often talks about ‘freedom’ and
the advantages of capitalism. Roellig takes part in picket lines where
he confronts GDR aficionados – and is equally confronted by people who
still believe in social utopias and communist and socialist models of
society that go beyond the current German social market economy. These
people also claim they are talking about freedom, yet somehow they seem
to speak very little about the former GDR.
The film unveils a strange atmosphere of monologues, misunderstanding
and failures to communicate – as seen from the perspective of Mario’s
very personal story, which unfolds throughout the film. He still awaits
an apology from his tormentors while simultaneously being ridiculed by
some hardliners who accuse Mario of playing the ‘victim card’.
The process of coming to terms with the past has just begun.
2.
Even now, twenty-five years after German reunification, historians are
still debating whether the GDR was an illegitimate state. In his current
work, Jochen Hick, several of whose films have screened in the
Panorama, tells the story of ex-GDR citizen Mario R�llig. Hick
accompanies him as he visits his parents and his former colleagues but
also the sites of his attempted flight from the GDR and his
incarceration. R�llig was arrested in Hungary in 1987 for attempting to
flee the German Democratic Republic; in 1988 the Federal Republic of
Germany purchased his freedom. Today he regularly talks about his
experiences in schools; he also volunteers as a guide at the former
Stasi prison in Hohensch�nhausen in Berlin that is now a memorial. Hick
stays close to his subject at all times but remains neutral, instead
observing and asking questions from behind the camera. In confrontations
with GDR-sympathisers R�lling is accused of distorting history and it
becomes abundantly clear that the battle to have the last word on how
the history of the GDR should be interpreted is riddled with taboos and
fraught with individual traumas. (from Berlinale catalogue, (c) Berlinale)
Synopsis
French/fran�ais
French snopsis soon here!
Synopsis Spanish/espa�ol Esta pel�cula cuenta la historia de Mario R�llig, un ciudadano de la
Rep�blica Democr�tica Alemana que fue detenido en Hungr�a en 1987 por
intentar escapar. Los simpatizantes de la RDA acusan a R�llig de
distorsionar la historia cuando cuenta su experiencia como preso.Synopsis Italian/italiano
Anche oggi, venticinque anni dopo la riunificazione della Germania, gli
storici stanno ancora discutendo se la DDR fosse uno stato illegittimo.
Nel suo lavoro attuale, Jochen Hick, regista spesso presente nella
sezione Panorama, ci racconta la storia di un cittadino della ex-DDR
Mario R�llig. Hick lo accompagna mentre visita i suoi genitori e i suoi
ex colleghi, ma anche i siti del suo tentativo di fuga dalla DDR e della
sua incarcerazione. R�llig � stato arrestato in Ungheria nel 1987 per
aver tentato di fuggire dalla Repubblica democratica tedesca; nel 1988
la Repubblica federale Tedesca acquist� la sua libert�. Oggi parla
regolarmente nelle scuole delle sue esperienze e fa anche volontariato
come guida presso l'ex prigione della Stasi nel quartiere
Hohensch�nhausen a Berlino, che ora � diventata un memoriale. Hick
rimane vicino al suo protagonista in ogni momento, ma rimane neutrale.
Durante alcuni confronti con simpatizzanti della ex-DDR Mario R�llig �
stato accusato di distorcere la storia. E' evidente che la battaglia per
avere l'ultima parola su come dovrebbe essere interpretata la storia
della DDR � ancora piena di tab� e irta di traumi personali.
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