Film Screening: Westwind

Summer 1988, one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Inseparable seventeen-year-old twins Doreen (Becht) and Isabel (Heyer) are accomplished oarswomen from East Germany. The two have been sent by their country to spend the summer at a training camp at Lake Balaton in the Soviet satellite state of Hungary. Unlike at home, Hungary’s more relaxed political climate and countless West German tourists visiting the popular lake resort offer the girls a new sense of freedom and even a small taste of the West. 

Shortly after arriving, the girls meet Nico (Bruch) and Arne (Dinda), two young West German tourists from Hamburg. As Doreen falls for Nico, the twins’ well-structured summer begins to crumble. Risking a promising career as a rower and her relationship with Isabel, Doreen begins to follow her heart, and falls deeper in love with Arne. When Arne offers to take her back with him to the West, Doreen is faced with an impossible decision: will she destroy everything that the twins have worked for and follow her heart?  

Based on true events, Thalheim’s third feature paints an engaging picture of first love against the backdrop of harsh political realities. 

Screenplay: Ilja Haller, Susann Schimk, Iain Dilthey

Cast: Friederike Becht, Luise Heyer, Franz Dinda, Volker Bruch, Hans-Uwe Bauer