During the day, Gerhard Gundermann (Alexander Scheer) was an excavator operator at a lignite strip mine in Lausatia; at night, he would get up on the stage and move people with his music. In the 1980s, above all his personal songs reflective of everyday life brought him a growing fanbase in East Germany, one that continued to grow after German reunification. And even when it came out that Gundermann, who in the GDR had always had conflicts with the state powers, had worked for the Ministry for State Security, his success didn't stop. And, likewise, success didn't stop him from continuing to work as an excavator operator in a lignite strip mine. He died in 1998 at the age of only 43.
Andreas Dresen's films are subtle chronicles of the German Democratic Republic and life in East Germany. This sensitive biographical narrative in GUNDERMANN continues along the same line. Dresen tells of a man who is summarily kicked out of the party, works as an excavator operator and marries his childhood sweetheart, leaving her to feed the family – all in the name of making music. It is a film about life, with all its contradictions and shortcomings, about death and dying, and above all about good music!
Awards (Selection):
Deutscher Schauspielpreis 2019 (Best supporting actress)
German Film Award 2019 (Best Film: Gold, Best Directing, Best Screenplay, Best Leading Actor, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design)
Bavaria Film Prize 2019 (Best Leading Actor)
Günter Rohrbach Filmpreis 2018 (Best Actor)
Gilde Filmpreis 2018 (Best Feature)
Andreas Dresen was born in 1963 in Gera, in the former GDR, and studied Directing at the "Konrad Wolf" University of Film & Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg. Since 1992, he has worked as a writer and director for film, TV and theater. A selection of his award-winning films includes: STILLES LAND (1992), NACHTGESTALTEN (1998), HALBE TREPPE (2001), WILLENBROCK (2004), SOMMER VORM BALKON (2005), WOLKE 9 (2008), HALT AUF FREIER STRECKE (2011), ALS WIR TRÄUMTEN (2015), and THE LEGEND OF TIMM THALER (2017).