Seven Freckles

(Sieben Sommersprossen)

GDR, 1978, 76 min, color
In German; English subtitles
Credits:
Director
Script
Dramaturg
Editor
Camera
Set Design
Costume Design
Music (Score)
Cast
Producer
Production Company

Synopsis

Caroline and Robert knew each other from when they were children. Years later, they meet again at summer camp and fall in love. But being alone together is made difficult by the rigorous daily routine at the camp.

 

In addition, the other teenagers detest the fact that Caroline and Robert are always together. Petty jealousies emerge and the head counselor becomes concerned about the moral standards of the camp. Only a student-teacher understands them, and suggests putting on a performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with them in the leading roles…

 

Zschoche’s poetic and sensitive summer camp story about first love and sexual awakening struck a cord with East German teenagers. The film was shown in sold-out cinemas and became a box office success.

Press comments

“Zschoche places the problem of young people on the verge of growing up at the center of the plot. […][The film] deserves the highest respect for how successfully it portrays those first careful, but no less insistent physical attempts at closeness.”
— Zwischen Marx und Muck
 

“Noteworthy for its frank treatment of teenage sexuality.”
—Joshua Feinstein, The Triumph of the Ordinary

 

 “First love, first sex… it’s quite interesting to have a look at East German youth in the 1970s.”
–Turner Classic Movies

 

“The film offers a more than interesting portrait of a society not much different from our own in the West.”
Variety

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