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Directed by: Michael Bully Herbig
Starring: Friedrich Mücke, Karoline Schuch, David Kross, Alicia von Rittberg, Thomas Kretschmann, Jonas Holdenrieder
You wouldn’t think a family outing in a hot air balloon would be such a big deal. But when the year is 1979 and you are desperate to flee East Germany and reach the West, the stakes cannot get much higher. The East German Balloon Escape is the true story of two families driven to secretly stitch together a huge balloon while hidden from the watchful eye of the Stasi police.
German writer/director Michael Bully Herbig creates a cosy-looking period story that is both funny and thrilling. As with other celluloid celebrations of real-life derring-do you have a pretty good idea how things will turn out, but how they do and how close they come to death is told in brisk, heart-stopping style.
Introduced by Dr Richard Millington, a specialist in the East German history and the Cold War. He is also a lecturer in German at the University of Chester.
Awards: Marvin Miller, Winner: Deutscher Filmpreis, Best Original Score, 2019
12A
Approx 125 mins
Moderate threat