Film Screening
Solo Sunny

A cult film about a singer who seeks self-realization and artistic freedom on the streets of East Berlin

Thu, 08/15/2024
6:00 PM Goethe-Institut Chicago

Dir. Konrad Wolf
Germany, 1980
DVD, 104 min

Sunny (Renate Krößner, Go for Zucker), an aspiring singer, longs for fulfillment and to be recognized as someone special. She gets kicked out of her band, but starts over in the 'underground' scene of East Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg. This social misfit’s dreams of ‘going solo’ in life are constantly thwarted by the expectations of the society in which she lives. Solo Sunny was a huge box office success, and it artfully captures the East German "70's style" with its gritty, glitzy visuals and catchy soundtrack. 

In this film, which is based on a true story, Konrad Wolf and Wolfgang Kohlhaase addressed the longings and frustrations of East German youth. Its obvious bias towards the protagonist and her determination to realize a personal dream unleashed a controversial debate when it was premiered in the GDR.