Despite the outstanding success of her piece "Keith" at the Komische Oper Berlin, choreographer Birgit Scherzer and four other members of the ensemble fled to the West in 1988. Professional dancers belonged to a privileged minority in the GDR. They were permitted to travel to non-socialist countries as part of their work and were considered both political figureheads and potential escapees from the Republic. Prominent figures of that period, including Klaus Dünnbier, Roland Gawlik, and Birgit Scherzer, recount their personal experiences. Ghazi's meticulous effort "interweaves memories, reflections and private VHS footage into a complex portrait that makes the East German attitude to life during the Wende years transparent." (Berlinale)
Stay or go? In the year before the fall of the Wall, a group of dancers have to decide whether to stay in the GDR or flee to the West.
Despite the outstanding success of her piece "Keith" at the Komische Oper Berlin, choreographer Birgit Scherzer and four other members of the ensemble fled to the West in 1988.
Professional dancers belonged to a privileged minority in the GDR. They were permitted to travel to non-socialist countries as part of their work and were considered both political figureheads and potential escapees from the Republic. Prominent figures of that period, including Klaus Dünnbier, Roland Gawlik, and Birgit Scherzer, recount their personal experiences.
Ghazi's meticulous effort "interweaves memories, reflections and private VHS footage into a complex portrait that makes the East German attitude to life during the Wende years transparent." (Berlinale)