Unter Männern - Schwul in der DDR
UNTER MÄNNERN – SCHWUL IN DER DDR addresses the question of how gay men lived and could live their lives under ‘real socialism’, where GDR ideology considered homosexuality to be a remnant of bourgeois decadent morality and harmful to a socialist society. In this documentary we meet six men who talk openly about their social and intimate experiences, some for the first time, and get to know several individuals who could hardly be more diverse, or more contradictory. At one end of the scale is Frank Schäfer, a barber and a shrewd and resourceful individualist; at the other, Eduard Stapel, an academic theologist who founded a GDR-wide network of homosexual associations and upon whom the Stasi firmly set its sights. Even though homosexuality had not been punished since the 1950s, the conspiracy of silence, the condemnation, the pressure to conform to society and to sexual discretion remained. UNTER MÄNNERN introduces us to a number of strong and – for all their pain – spirited men who were obliged to come to terms with their homosexuality alone, each with their own very different strategies for survival and adjustment.
details
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Runtime
91 min -
Country
Germany -
Year of Presentation
2012 -
Year of Production
2011 -
Director
Markus Stein, Ringo Rösener -
Cast
Eduard Stapel, Frank Schäfer, Jürgen Wittdorf, John Zinner, Helwin Leuschner -
Production Company
Hoferichter & Jacobs TV Prod -
Berlinale Section
Panorama -
Berlinale Category
Documentary Film
pictures from the movie
Biography Markus Stein
Markus Stein was born in 1965 in Mannheim and studied at the Freie Universität in Berlin. An assistant director and assistant cameraman to directors such as Otar Iosseliani, Wim Wenders and Thomas Mauch, he received his film training at the film school in Łódź. In the years that followed he worked as a director, cinematographer and writer in Berlin. He is current working as a film editor and dramatic advisor.
Filmography Markus Stein
1998 The Beginner | 2008 Balkan Traffic – Übermorgen nirgendwo, co-directors: Milan V. Puzic | 2012 Unter Männern – Schwul in der DDR | 2014 Nur der Pole bingt die Kohle | 2024 Baldiga – Entsichertes Herz (Baldiga – Unlocked Heart)
Biography Ringo Rösener
Ringo Rösener was born in Anklam in 1983. He received his training in cultural studies, drama and business studies at Leipzig University and at the University of Bologna. In 2009 he became a full-time employee of the film production company Hoferichter & Jacobs film production where he is responsible for the release of the firm’s documentaries. AMONG MEN – GAY IN EAST GERMANY, for which he wrote the treatment, marks his directorial debut.