In Heiner Carow’s Teddy Award-winning tale of an East German teacher, Philipp (Matthias Freihof) begins to question his sexuality after a reunion with a childhood friend, which brings back long-suppressed desires.

By day, a model citizen with a loving girlfriend (Dagmar Manzel), an encounter with a handsome young man (Dirk Kummer) draws Philipp further and further into Berlin’s queer subcultures.

Coming Out was the result of a decades-long fight by activists for the East German state to provide equality for queer people in all its activities, including through the DEFA, the state-run agency responsible for producing films. With its premiere taking place on the evening the Berlin Wall fell, the film is a unique window into gay life in East Berlin before it was transformed by reunification.

With thanks to the Deutsche Kinemathek and support from Goethe-Institut.

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