A New Life (2/6)

A New Life (2/6)

Like many other Berliners, Martin Kupfer experiences the night of the 9-10 November as if in a trance. Carried along by the sheer rapture on both sides of the Wall, he celebrates the whole night through and wakes up the following morning in West Berlin in the bed of young journalist, Katja Wiese. Hans Kupfer and his son Falk watch the events of that night on television together with Gaucke in the Ministry for State Security (MfS). While Hans is relieved the following day that everything has gone off peacefully, Falk is struggling to keep his composure. In the meantime, it is clear to both that the tide has finally turned. The conference is suddenly interrupted by a telephone call. Falk's son, Roman has found Marlene unconscious in the garden. The situation looks bad. She is cold as ice and her heart condition is worrying the doctors. Hans keeps an emotional vigil by her bed in the hospital, having realized just how much Marlene means to him. Meanwhile, Vera and Nicole suspect that the Stasi have detained Robert. Desperate for information, Vera asks her ex-husband Falk for help. But he tells Vera that she's just paranoid and gets rid of her. The pressure on him is immense however - if it comes out that Rothals has killed the dissident pastor on Falk's orders, the consequences will be serious. Without further ado, he stages the disappearance of Robert Wolff as the suicide of a severe depressive, hides pills in his home and gives Vera a forged suicide note. Vera is shocked. Nicole, however, does not believe that her brother killed himself. Martin sees the fall of the Wall as an opportunity to find his daughter Anna. Katja offers to help and so she and Martin become closer. On a visit to Katja's apartment, Martin discovers a photo on the notice board that gives him hope. The image shows a confrontation between two men in a backyard - a threatening scene, which Katja had recently witnessed and photographed in East Berlin. Martin recognizes one of the men as the missing Robert Wolff - and in the background a State Security car in which his brother Falk is sitting.

Taking its name from the locality in the then divided city that houses the notorious Stasi secret police-run Hohenschönhausen prison, the series tells of young police officer Martin, from a loyal Party family, who falls in love with the beautiful young and rebellious Julia, from a family of dissidents: a Romeo & Juliet saga of two lovers struggling against prejudices and the social and political odds.

Grimme Award 2016
German Screen Actors Award 2014
German TV Award 2011 for Best Series
Nominated for Prix Europa 2011  
The first 6 episodes to be screened at Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) New York in April 2011.

PRESS REVIEWS

• Family saga Weissensee recounts what life in East Germany was like, in a DALLAS style. (Der Spiegel, Sept. 13, 2010)
  
• Weissensee (...) is simply a well-made drama, which profits from a tight story arc, a superb cast and terrific set design. (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Sept. 14, 2010)
  
• Behind the surface story of two families in 1980s Socialist East Germany - replete with romance, intrigue and betrayal - a piece of real life emerges: authentic, dramatic. (Welt Online, Sept. 14, 2010)
  
• A courageous effort - which pays off handsomely. Beneath the soap opera plot, a complex web of desires and wishes emerges, of self-deception and patronizing. (Spiegel Online, Sept. 14, 2010)
  
• A highly original TV series. (Leipziger Volkszeitung, Sept. 6, 2010)
  
• Germany's biggest newspaper BILD headlined "The most spectacular TV series of the year." (Sept. 11, 2010)