SECTION: Von Frust und Freiheit

In the 30th year of German reunification, this series focuses on the period after reunification and its effects on contemporary politics in (east) Germany and the formerly socialist states of central and eastern Europe, namely Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The focus is on the stories of people, their hopes and disappointments, of new-found self-determination and subjugation to external influences, of social optimism and resignation. They speak: of frustration and freedom.

How did Germany, as well as the individual states of central and eastern Europe, deal with the challenges of system change, globalisation and debates over migration? What are the similarities, where are the differences? What worked and what failed? And how can past experiences be used to shape the future? Produced between 1990 and 2020, nine feature and documentary films as well as a short film programme present very different perspectives on developments over the past decades. CR

The series OF FRUSTRATION AND FREEDOM is supported by the Federal Foundation for Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship.