Die andere Liebe (1988)

Genre

documentary film, LGBTQ-related film

Country

Germany

How it feels

This short East German documentary was the first state-produced film to address homosexuality. It interviews gay men and lesbians about their everyday lives and relationships. The film aimed to show official acceptance and understanding of same-sex love.

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What happens

Die andere Liebe (English: The Other Love) is a 1988 East German public education documentary film directed by Axel Otten and Helmut Kißling. It is 34 minutes long and in German with English subtitles. It was the first film produced by East Germany's state-run DEFA film studios that dealt with the subject of homosexuality. It was commissioned by the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden. It was made in co-operation with gay and lesbian activists in East Germany and includes interviews with lesbians and gay men talking about their lives. The film was aiming to convey official state acceptance of homosexuality. Initially it was jointly directed by Otten and Kißling, but during production Kißling fled to the west leaving Otten to finish the film. Die andere Liebe premiered on 2 November 1988 at the Kino Babylon in Berlin. DEFA's only feature film dealing with gay themes, Coming Out, premiered a year later, on 9 November 1989 at the Kino International. The actor Dirk Kummer, who played 'Matthias' in Coming Out, appears in Die andere Liebe being interviewed with his boyfriend. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Love Without Fear (1989)
• Out in Ost-Berlin: Lesben und Schwule in der DDR (2013)
• Among Men: Gay in East Germany (2012)
• Three of Many (1988)
• Virgin Machine (1988)
• Army of Lovers or Revolt of the Perverts (1979)
• Schwuler Mut (1998)
• After Winter Comes Spring (1988)