Gavriil Gordeev, Executive Producer, Okko Online Cinema, and Ivan Samokhvalov, a producer of Sreda film company, introduced the closing film of the festival, Berlin Hero. This is the final work by the director Wolfgang Becker, whose film Good Bye, Lenin! became one of his iconic classical works.
The story focuses on Michael Hartung, the owner of a struggling video rental store.
His life changes when an ambitious journalist shows him the findings of an investigation: many years ago, while working for the Reichsbahn, Michael allegedly organized the largest mass escape from the German Democratic Republic. Tempted by a generous fee, Michael acknowledges the story, although it is only partly true. Unexpectedly, he becomes a national hero, but the brighter the fame glows, the higher the price of exposure is. And Michael is ready to keep lying not to lose people's recognition, and, most importantly, love and respect of his family.
Gavriil Gordeev: "I believe it is an incredible cultural achievement that we could work with such an outstanding German director as Wolfgang Becker. Unfortunately, this film is the last one in his career. I think it is especially important these days to see a film that depicts Germany as still, to some extent, divided into eastern and western parts. Perhaps our film is the first to show that West Germans feel a bit of regret that they didn’t get to know their East German past well enough, the past that today's generation is only just beginning to discover and appreciate. Russian spectators will find it interesting to see how the residents of West Berlin and modern society actually miss East Berlin, which is closely connected to our culture".
Ivan Samokhvalov: "To me, the director Wolfgang Becker can compare with Georgiy Daneliya, and this was a defining factor in the design and quality of the future film". The screenplay itself is remarkable, as it seems to pick up where Good Bye, Lenin! left off. This film isn’t about "them", it’s about us and them, about the common that unites, what Russians and Germans have, meaning the whole world has it".
The story focuses on Michael Hartung, the owner of a struggling video rental store.
His life changes when an ambitious journalist shows him the findings of an investigation: many years ago, while working for the Reichsbahn, Michael allegedly organized the largest mass escape from the German Democratic Republic. Tempted by a generous fee, Michael acknowledges the story, although it is only partly true. Unexpectedly, he becomes a national hero, but the brighter the fame glows, the higher the price of exposure is. And Michael is ready to keep lying not to lose people's recognition, and, most importantly, love and respect of his family.
Gavriil Gordeev: "I believe it is an incredible cultural achievement that we could work with such an outstanding German director as Wolfgang Becker. Unfortunately, this film is the last one in his career. I think it is especially important these days to see a film that depicts Germany as still, to some extent, divided into eastern and western parts. Perhaps our film is the first to show that West Germans feel a bit of regret that they didn’t get to know their East German past well enough, the past that today's generation is only just beginning to discover and appreciate. Russian spectators will find it interesting to see how the residents of West Berlin and modern society actually miss East Berlin, which is closely connected to our culture".
Ivan Samokhvalov: "To me, the director Wolfgang Becker can compare with Georgiy Daneliya, and this was a defining factor in the design and quality of the future film". The screenplay itself is remarkable, as it seems to pick up where Good Bye, Lenin! left off. This film isn’t about "them", it’s about us and them, about the common that unites, what Russians and Germans have, meaning the whole world has it".