Germany, 2026, 120 min., German with English and Bulgarian subtitles dir.Lutz Pehnert
As the crown prince of Erich Honecker, Egon Krenz rose through the ranks of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) and became head of state of the GDR. But he led the country for only 50 days. After German reunification, he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for his shared responsibility in the deaths at the Berlin Wall. Since his release in 2003, he has lived in Dierhagen on the Baltic Sea. Functionary, climber, apparatchik, party boss, hate figure, killer, prisoner, father and grandfather – who is Egon Krenz at the end of his life? The film offers a fresh perspective on the collapse of the GDR and on the lives of the people who grew up within that system.
Screenwriter: Lutz Pehnert
DOP: Andreas Deinert
Music: Leon Zeug
Production: Susann Schimk
Director’s Biography:
Lutz Pehnert was born in Berlin, Germany in 1961. Since 1995 he has been a freelance writer and television director. His film “Brand”, about a group of workers and alcoholics in a steel factory in Brandenburg, was screened at the Berlinale in 1997. His multi-part documentary “DDR Ahoi!” about the history of the East German seafaring won a Grimme Award in 2011, while his film “Partisan” was screened at the Berlinale in 2018. His latest film “Bettina” won the FIPRESCI Award at the 72nd edition of the Berlin International Film Festival and is in the RIFE 2022 selection.