Swan Island
(Insel der Schwäne)

Insel der Schwäne © DEFA-Stiftung, Waltraut Pathenheimer
Zschoche, Herrmann |
Plenzdorf, Ulrich |
Zschoche, Herrmann |
Herzog, Gabriele |
Lehmphul, Erika |
Jaeuthe, Günter |
Leupold, Harry |
Dittrich, Joachim |
Gotthardt, Peter |
Baumann, Britt |
Bunke, Axel |
Grashof, Christian |
Kommerell, Ruth |
Körner, Dietrich |
Lennartz, Monika |
Martinek, Sven |
Müller, Mathias |
Reiseck, Kerstin |
Werner, Ursula |
DEFA Studio for Feature Films |
Synopsis
When he is 14, Stefan’s parents decide to move the family to Marzahn, a desolate high-rise suburb of Berlin that is still under construction. Stefan’s innocent childhood suddenly ends when he encounters the bullying of an older boy and his gang.
Officials accused director Herrmann Zschoche and scriptwriter Ulrich Plenzdorf of giving a distorted, negative view of socialist reality. They required that the team make several edits and change the final scene, which in the original cut was open-ended.
Press comments
"A plattenbau-Western taking a dig at the GDR's self-congratulatory housing propaganda. DEFA films were rarely as critical and realistic as this one."
–Achtung Berlin Festival
“One of DEFA’s important critical-realistic films!"
-Alpha TV
“An honest and socially critical film that advocates for the issues facing young people who feel emotionally suffocated—and not only in the GDR!”
—film-dienst