Over the course of a year, starting in March 1989, director Kurt Tetzlaff follows Alexander Schulz, an 18-year-old high-school student and son of a pastor. Alexander openly discusses his non-conformist political views. Full of hope, he joins the citizens’ movement in fall 1989; but after the first free elections held in the GDR on March 18, 1990, he realizes that his hopes are in vain.

The documentary was followed by a sequel, In Transition: A Record of Hope, showing the next year of Alexander's life up to German reunification. 

The film is part of the DVD release Reports from a Peaceful Revolution.