Sinopsis
Fiction. Susanne is a single mother in her late twenties. She tries to make ends meet for her and her child by doing unskilled work. She sticks to no principles, frittering away her time in discos or hanging out with old friends. When she gets to know Thomas, a young engineer who has just been made head of his department, she is tempted to get into closer contact with him, especially since she discovers that he is so very different from her. At the same time, however, her dreary job bugs her. Not without reason, she sees her work as something she cannot take pride in. So she quits her job. But what is she to live from? She faces big money problems which are made worse when her child becomes ill. In desperation, she commits insurance fraud. But she is caught out and the matter is passed on to the State prosecutor. During this time, Thomas cares particularly well for her. He has no inkling of her criminal offense. He finds her a job at his workplace and the two of them are very happy. The relationship promises to last and Susanne finally admits her crime to him. But this admission burdens the relationship to such a degree that they separate. Yet, Susanne, who has become more self-confident and mature, now tries to walk her own path.
Evelyn Schmidt, director, scriptwriter, and dramaturg, was born in Görlitz in 1949 and moved to Berlin in 1963. She spent a year as an apprentice with the East German television company and, in 1973, graduated with a degree in directing from the Film and Television Academy in Potsdam-Babelsberg. Schmidt participated in Konrad Wolf’s master class at the Academy of the Arts in East Berlin from 1973-1977. From 1977 to 1990 she worked as an assistant director, and later as a director at the DEFA Studio for Feature Films. Evelyn Schmidt was one of the few female film directors in East Germany. Her DEFA debut film, Seitensprung, was showcased at the Berlin International Film Festival. Critical of her frank portrayal of a less-than-ideal socialist citizen in Das Fahrrad, East German officials turned down all invitations to screen the film abroad and, for three years, Schmidt was not allowed to make another film. Since 1993, Schmidt has directed documentaries for television and produced thirteen plays at an experimental, “off”-theater in Berlin. She has taught at the Academy for Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg and, since 2003, at the private Drama School in Berlin-Charlottenburg.
November, 11th 2020. 7.30 pm
Goethe-Institut Madrid
Access
Section: German Contemporary Directors
Year of Production: 1981
Running Time: 89’
Country: Democratic Republic of Germany (RDA)
Language: German
Director: Evelyn Schmidt
Cast: Heidemarie Schneider, Roman Kaminski, Anke Friedrich, Heidrun Bartholomäus, Hilmar Baumann, Gisela Bestehorn, Gertrud Brendler, Johanna Clas, Birgit Edenharter, Christine Harbort, Roland Hemmo, Eugen Peter Herden, Anita Herbst, Horst Lebinsky, Reneé Kubsch, Walter Lendrich, Andrea Meissner, Klaus Mertens, Arnim Mühlstädt, Angelika Perdelwitz, Gisela Rubbel, Andrej Hoffmann, Ralf Günter Kolkiewicz, Franziska Kleiner, Detlef Plath, Siegfried Seibt and Karin Weser
Producer: Günter Schwaack
Production Company: Die Deutsche Film AG (DEFA)
International Sales: DEFA Film Library
Main Festivals and awards: 2018 Images of the Future: The Cinema of East Germany, Rio de Janeiro. 2019 Retrospective “Self-Determined. Perspective of Woman Filmmakers” at Berlin International Film Festival
