Spaziergang nach Syrakus (2026)

The film’s protagonist is Paul Gompitz, a waiter from Rostock. At the beginning of the film, in 1982, he works aboard an excursion boat on the Greifswalder Bodden. Gompitz sees himself as a freedom-loving person: “Even as a little boy, whenever a door slammed shut, my first reaction was: get out.” He was unable to go to university because he lacked enthusiasm for civics. Inspired by Johann Gottfried Seume’s travelogue A Walk to Syracuse (1802), he develops a desire to discover Italian art and culture and travel all the way to Sicily. Since such journeys are forbidden by the state, Paul spends seven years meticulously preparing to leave by way of the Baltic Sea: from sailing practice and acquiring radar and radio skills to saving tips paid in West German currency. These are preparations for a journey Paul does not define as “escape,” since he intends to return to his homeland and his wife. Paul’s relationship with his wife Anne, a hospital doctor with whom he has found personal happiness, comes under increasing strain because he keeps his preparations secret. He conceals his plans from Anne because, as someone in the know, she would be considered complicit in an attempt to flee the republic. Eventually, Paul sets off: at night, in a sailboat, around the southern tip of Hiddensee, across the Baltic Sea to Denmark, and on to Bochum, where his cousin is holding the West German currency he sent her by post in numerous letters. He does not accept an offer from the GDR’s Permanent Mission to let him off without penalty if he returns that same day. He reaches Italy via the Alps, where he is allowed to eat real Parmesan for the first time. Anne does not answer his calls because she wants to avoid further trouble with the authorities. He travels through various Italian cities and makes it as far as Sicily. Paul returns to Rostock in the autumn of 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He visits Syracuse again in 2006. The distance and the connection between the married couple, Paul and Anne, serve throughout the film as a romantic motif of longing and an emotional lens through which to reflect on freedom of movement denied for political reasons: the freedom to leave when one is forbidden to do so, but then also to return of one’s own free will. The film depicts the stages of Paul’s journey mostly in brief glimpses of places and encounters. The different periods are conveyed through postcard-like film scenes.