User Score
3 votes
In September 1989, more and more GDR citizens fled to the West German embassy in Prague. Among them were Stefan and Bettina, who were spending their honeymoon in Czechoslovakia. When Stefan briefly returns to the GDR to fetch their young son, he also brings their friends Karin and Thomas with him. There is no end to the influx of refugees and the embassy is completely overwhelmed with those wanting to leave. What's more, despite hectic negotiations behind the scenes, no political solution seems to be on the horizon. The situation in the embassy garden is becoming increasingly dramatic. A humanitarian catastrophe is imminent.
Director
Status
Released
Original Language
DE
Stefan Herfurth
The ambitious scientist Franz Walter doesn't hesitate when he is promised a professorship at the university. He immediately accepts, pledges absolute loyalty to the system and agrees to work for the GDR's foreign intelligence service until he can take up his new position. Together with his colleague Dirk, he is sent on foreign assignments to West Germany. Franz soon has to use blackmail to get innocent people to talk. But his superiors go even further: GDR refugees and their relatives are targeted to be psychologically destroyed, forged letters, medical diagnoses, surveillance and wiretapping are on the agenda. However, this is more than Franz can bear: he feels powerless and increasingly isolates himself. When he then decides to steal secret documents for a later defection to the West, this results in an unfortunate chain reaction leading to his arrest and ultimately to his execution...
