Coming Out

Directed By Heiner Carow
Starring Matthias Freihof, Dagmar Manzel, Dirk Kummer

In Heiner Carow’s award-winning tale of love and self-acceptance set in East Germany, Philipp (Matthias Freihof) begins to question his sexuality after a reunion with a childhood friend brings back long-suppressed desires. By day, a model East German citizen with a loving girlfriend (Dagmar Manzel), an encounter with a handsome young man (Dirk Kummer) draws Philipp further and further into East Berlin’s queer subcultures.

Coming Out was the result of a decades-long fight by activists against the East German regime. They demanded the Party provide equality for queer people in all aspects of society, including through DEFA, the state-run agency responsible for producing films. With its premiere taking place on the evening the Berlin Wall fell, the film is a unique window into gay life in East Berlin before it was transformed by reunification.

This screening will be preceded by a short introduction from Dr Richard Millington, Senior Lecturer in German and historian of East Germany at the University of Chester.

This screening has been made possible by the Cinema Rediscovered Tour.