Zwischen uns die Mauer (2019)

1986. Seventeen-year-old Anna travels by train with a group of teenagers from her small West German town to East Berlin for a church youth exchange between East and West. There she meets Philipp, who is a few years older. It is “love at first sight.” A few weeks later, Anna visits Philipp again. But the happiness of their love is overshadowed by a bitter reality: How can they have a relationship across the Wall? The letters Anna regularly receives from Philipp do not escape her parents’ notice. They believe that a relationship like this will only make Anna unhappy, and they want to forbid her from seeing Philipp again. Anna has to deceive her parents in order to see her boyfriend. Together, she and Philipp speculate about escape plans for him. The few hours they spend together are interrupted by months filled with longing and doubt. The longer the relationship lasts, the clearer it becomes to them both that it has no future. During Anna’s visit over the Easter holidays, a fatal mishap occurs. They oversleep, and Anna misses her midnight deadline to return to West Berlin. The Stasi, which has long been watching their relationship with suspicion, is at the door. Although both are released after a few hours of questioning, Anna is henceforth forbidden from entering East Germany. To be able to see each other anyway, they plan to meet in Prague. Anna has no idea that Philipp and his childhood friend Ina have long been planning his escape to the West. But their escape plans are thwarted. Anna waits in vain for Philipp in Prague. Ina is killed in the escape attempt that nevertheless goes ahead. Philipp is sentenced to a long prison term. With a heavy heart, Philipp writes Anna a farewell letter. Two years later. November 9, 1989. Anna is now a university student. She follows the events surrounding the fall of the Wall, transfixed. But she pushes aside the thought of seeing Philipp again. By now, she has built a new life with Lorenz, a former school friend. Five months later, Philipp is standing at her door. Despite their awkwardness, they both realize that their feelings for each other are still as strong as ever. Anna is caught in a deep dilemma.