German Film Series, Fall 2008 - Sexual Revolutions in German Cinema

Coming Out (Heiner Carow, 1989)

Phillip, a young high school teacher engaged to be married, falls in love with Matthias, a gay man he meets at a party. By the time Phillip comes out to Tanja, his fiancée, Matthias has already discovered that he has been leading a double life and refuses to see him again, which leaves Phillip reeling. Premiered on the same evening the Berlin Wall came down, Coming Out is the only film made in the GDR to deal with homosexuality, and is one of only a few reflections on being gay in former East Germany.