Gabriele Denecke

Als wir die Zukunft waren

Seven directors remember their childhood and youth; to the 50s and 60s in the GDR. They appear to be curious, vulnerable children and teenagers who also want to be cool (even though the word doesn't exist for them yet). They live in well-adjusted or resistant families. Some only in half because their father left for the West. Depending on their family background, they want or should help build the new, better Germany.

Als wir die Zukunft waren

Seven directors remember their childhood and youth; to the 50s and 60s in the GDR. They appear to be curious, vulnerable children and teenagers who also want to be cool (even though the word doesn't exist for them yet). They live in well-adjusted or resistant families. Some only in half because their father left for the West. Depending on their family background, they want or should help build the new, better Germany.

Orangemond

An intensive interview with the young protagonist Rainer about his non-conformist life is combined with scenes from his everyday life. The documentary fiction Orangemond by Gabriele Denecke was created in 1979/80 as part of her master's student studies with Frank Beyer at what was then the GDR University of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg. The film was not completed. After viewing the raw material, the university decided that there would be no editing for the film. Eventually Gabriele Denecke was only able to put the film together in the sequence of scenes.

Orangemond

An intensive interview with the young protagonist Rainer about his non-conformist life is combined with scenes from his everyday life. The documentary fiction Orangemond by Gabriele Denecke was created in 1979/80 as part of her master's student studies with Frank Beyer at what was then the GDR University of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg. The film was not completed. After viewing the raw material, the university decided that there would be no editing for the film. Eventually Gabriele Denecke was only able to put the film together in the sequence of scenes.

Orangemond

An intensive interview with the young protagonist Rainer about his non-conformist life is combined with scenes from his everyday life. The documentary fiction Orangemond by Gabriele Denecke was created in 1979/80 as part of her master's student studies with Frank Beyer at what was then the GDR University of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg. The film was not completed. After viewing the raw material, the university decided that there would be no editing for the film. Eventually Gabriele Denecke was only able to put the film together in the sequence of scenes.

Once You’ve Worn Out the First Pair of Wooden Shoes …

A handful of quarrymen in the Reinhardtsdorf open cast mine near Bad Schandau dig out the coveted Elbe natural stone. Gabriele Denecke’s approach to the men, who are of different ages, is almost trance-like, the movement to and from the stones marks the transition to another world. We hear about the merciless working conditions of the past, about alcohol, people worn out before their time. Today, digging out the massive rocks in the midst of nature also constitutes a degree of freedom. Open cast miners share a special mindset. And: Once you’ve worn out your first pair of wooden shoes, you’ll stay – probably forever.