Foto: Ute Mahler
The film IN A LAND THAT NO LONGER EXISTS, which was released in German cinemas in October 2022, shows a different side of the GDR than usual: not gray, but colorful, wild, non-conformist. The main character Suzie is discovered in the late 80s in the GDR on the way to work as a photo model. She experiences the everyday harassment of the GDR system, but also a counter-world in which creativity, sensuality and freedom were possible. The film received excellent reviews and won several awards.
Film director Aelrun Goette recounts here from her own experience: she was discovered as a model, worked with the most important female photographers of the GDR for the magazine Sybille, the East German Vogue, was seen in fashion shows and posters. After the fall of the Wall, she studied philosophy and film, first distinguishing herself as a documentary filmmaker and working for television. Her films, often about women in extreme situations, have won numerous awards.
Aelrun Goette is on the board of the German Film Academy, an honorary professor at the Konrad Wolf Film University Babelsberg since 2019, and recently founded her own production company mandrake-pictures.
