When the Berlin Wall opened twenty years ago today, I was on a school exchange near Nantes. We heard the momentous news the following day, on the coach on our way to visit a biscuit factory. So preoccupied were we with the difficulties of intercultural communication (and in my case a kleptomaniac exchange partner) that it took a while for the news to sink in.
Now, of course, it’s hard to miss the significance of November 9. There’s been lots of press coverage commemorating the fall of the Wall, including Radio 4's excellent 1989: Day By Day. Timothy Garton Ash has written a wonderfully evocative description of 'Berlin's moment of freedom', and Radio 3 are running a fascinating series on how everyday objects can help unlock the history of communism.
There is, however, a lesser-known reason to remember November 9 1989, which I discovered during the research for my next book, Love In The Time Of Communism.
Hours before the Wall fell, Coming Out, East Germany’s first feature film about gay sexuality premiered in East Berlin. This was a revolutionary moment – homosexuality was rarely discussed in public, and publicly ‘out’ gay men and lesbians were few and far between.
Coming Out told the story of Phillipp, a teacher in his late twenties. Despite a warm relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, Tanja, Philipp is unable to deny his sexual feelings towards men, which have been suppressed since a homophobic incident in his teens. He falls in love with the younger Matthias, but is torn between his two lovers. Coming Out was daring not only in its choice of Philipp’s profession – he is portrayed as a dedicated, inspirational teacher – but also its scenes of gay sex.
Coming Out would have been a historic moment in the history of East German homosexuality, but it was very quickly overshadowed by the collapse of communism. After the premiere, the cast and crew went to an after-party at a well-known gay bar. They were greeted with the words: ‘The Wall is open!’ and soon hurried to the border to see for themselves. A year later, Germany was reunited.
Coming Out is still well worth watching though. You can watch an extract here, and the film is available as a DVD with English subtitles (in the Bristol University library catalogue here). Much of the film was shot on location in East Berlin, and many of the extras were regulars on the gay scene. It's a fascinating glimpse into a lost - and almost forgotten - world.
