Feature Film

Coming Out (1989)

  • September 3
  • 18:15
  • Louis Hartlooper Complex

An East German gay cult classic that premiered the night the wall fell. A collaboration with Film and Television Cultures graduates from Utrecht University.

A story about the turbulent love life of one high school teacher as he navigates his sexuality. Philip meets his co-worker Tanja, and before they know it they are engaged. But then he falls head over heels with Matthias, a young man he meets at an East Berlin gay bar. Soon, Tanja and Philip’s marriage declines. Is it salvageable? When his two partners accidentally meet, Philip plunges himself into cruising as an attempt to escape the situation. But everything takes a turn for the worse when his work learns about his sexuality. 

The movie is accompanied by a talk from graduates of the MA Film and Television Cultures at Utrecht University. As part of the NWO-funded research project When Queer Cinema Came to Germany – Salzgeber and the Evolution of Film Distribution (1985–2025) , Negar Asgharifard, Alana Berends, Bilge Ekşi, and Charlotte van Dijssel spent two months analyzing the film by experimenting with digital methods and tools. Their experiments in “deforming” the film, along with a video essay on encounters in Coming Out , are shown prior to the screening. 

Organized and in collaboration with the MA Film and Television Cultures and the research groups Media and Performance and MI3: Media Industries, Infrastructures and Institutions at Utrecht University.

 

Program partner
Utrecht University

Film facts

  • Genres: Drama, Romantiek
  • Original title: Coming Out
  • Director: Heiner Carow
  • Year: 1989
  • Country: Germany
  • Running time: 113 minutes
  • Language : German
  • Subtitles: English
  • Photo copyrights: Coming out©DEFA-Stiftung/Wolfgang Fritsche, Ikarus©DEFA-Stiftung/Norbert Kuhröber
Awards
  • 40th Berlin International Film Festival 1990 – Winner: Silver Bear
  • 40th Berlin International Film Festival 1990 – Winner: Teddy Award
  • Konrad Wolf Prize 1990 – Winner: director Heiner Carow
  • Nationales Spielfilmfestival der DDR 1990 – Winner: Best Director (Heiner Carow); Best Young Male Actor (Matthias Freihof)

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