Comrade - Where are you today?
In 1988, just after high school graduation, director Kirsi Liimatainen leaves her working-class home in a Finnish tower block for the GDR. She and her classmates have been accepted to the prestigious “Jugendhochschule Wilhelm Pieck” to study the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism. They are on a pilgrimage from the USSR, Poland, Nicaragua and Chile, but also from West-Germany, Denmark, Norway and South Africa. Some have taken on pseudonyms and sneaked away on tourist visas, others carry proudly the responsibility bestowed upon them as the next generation of political leaders. Alongside GDR-students they spend almost one year on the closed-off campus outside Berlin with high hopes of once leading their comrades at home in their struggle for a better world. This Babylonian mixture of languages and mentalities is bridged by a score of interpreters and a common conviction.
In the summer of 1989 the course ends and students are again scattered around the globe. A few months later, the Berlin Wall falls ...
Today, almost 20 years later, the school stands empty. But those who once studied, taught or worked there still remain. Student-come-director Kirsi Liimatainen sets off on a cinematographic journey to meet them again. Archive film footage, letters and personal memorabilia make history come alive; Kirsi’s intimate personal access to the past and present concerns of former fellow pupils and friends, former school principals, teachers and interpreters opens up doors to a better understanding of today’s world.
What has become of the people and their dream of a better society; how have they coped with the political landslide of the 1990’s and the need for a personal repositioning? For some, it may have been a catastrophe, the total loss of everything they believed in; for others, the unexpected gain of freedom; for all, a question remains: Comrade, where are you today?
Director
Kirsi Marie Liimatainen
Producer
Ilanga GbR: Gaertig, Liimatainen, Stollwerk
Co-producer Finland
Making Movies: Kaarle Aho
Developed with the support of:
