Wittstock-Zyklus: Wittstock, Wittstock / Mädchen im Wittstock

Before that:
Wittstock cycle: Girls in Wittstock
Volker Koepp, DD 1975
Screenplay: Wolfgang Geier, Volker Koepp, Richard Ritterbusch; Cinematography: Michael Zausch; Editing: Barbara Masanetz-Mechelk; Music: Konrad Körner. 35mm, b/w, 19 min. German

A "manageable small town" called Wittstock in the former GDR: In the mid-1970s, around a thousand young women are already working in the VEB Obertrikotagenbetrieb Ernst Lück, which is being built up. The film team led by Volker Koepp watches the work and is interested in the social and structural fabric, receives information, accompanies a conflict and its resolution. Wittstock, Wittstock is the final film in this seven-part cycle, dedicated to the steadfast protagonists Edith, Elsbeth and Renate, who experience the liquidation of the OTB after reunification. One of them finds new work in the West. Another is hired as a hotel chambermaid after applying for the 19th time. Despite all the retraining measures, the third is only needed as a housewife - but, as she says to the director, she has long since become a familiar old acquaintance: "After the happy ending, you should keep filming!" (Marion Biet / Nicole Kandioler / Isabella Reicher)

Photo: DEFA Foundation