OPENING NIGHT SELECTION - 2022 GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL
David Kross, Henry Hübchen and Tom Schilling lead a stellar ensemble cast in writer/director Leander Haussmann's charming comedy about a man who led a double life in 1980s East Berlin as an underground poet... and a Stasi agent.
Present day Berlin. Ludger Fuchs (Jörg Schüttauf), an established novelist and former GDR dissident, is finally getting an opportunity to view his ‘official’ personal file from the infamous Staatssicherheitsdienst (Stasi) state security service - outlining who spied and informed on him - and his wife Corinna (Margarita Broich) has organised a surprise family party to mark the occasion. While browsing through the impressively thick file together, a rather explicit love letter appears that isn’t from Corinna, even though they’d just married at the time...
East Berlin, early 1980s. Young Ludger (David Kross, The Reader, Balloon), is hired by the Stasi to infiltrate the counterculture scene of the Prenzlauer Berg district, a breeding ground for artists, bohemians and free-thinking radicals. On his very first assignment, his identity is almost exposed, but Ludger manages to keep his cover by sleeping with his target, Corinna (Antonia Bill), a member of the ‘subversive’ peace movement. Soon after, as Ludger further embeds himself undercover, he finds himself falling for Natalie (Deleila Piasko), an ethereal, quixotic neighbour who introduces him to all the wonderful things he had no idea existed. To make matters worse, Ludger’s commanding officer at the Stasi (Henry Hübchen) orders him to marry Corinna. Ludger unwillingly obeys, largely so that he can maintain his bohemian cover while the winds of change start blowing away the GDR...
Peppered with nostalgia, secrets and a good dose of self-irony, A STASI COMEDY contends that 30 years on, it's ok to finally poke fun at the Stasi.
