Beyond the Blue Border

FOKUS: Films from Germany Festival - Youth Programme

The GDR in the summer of 1989: Ambitious Hanna is a talented swimmer. She trains hard to fulfil her dream of Olympic victory one day. When she is not training, she prefers to spend her free time with her best friend Andreas, as well as Jens, a new class mate. Andreas' unconventional manner repeatedly brings him into conflict with the GDR system. When he is threatened with a stay in a re-education camp, he and Hanna decide to flee across the Baltic Sea swimming – 50 km across the water, completely on their own and connected only by a thin string around their wrists. A film about boarders and boundaries, breaking free of them, social expectations and friendship. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Dorit Linke.

Directed by Sarah Neumann, 2024, 102 min

The film is part of Fokus' youth programme and can be booked for school screenings. Age recommendation: From S3 onwards. For enquiries, please contact culture-glasgow@goethe.de.