Coming Out

Coming Out is a 1989 East German film directed by Heiner Carow and written by Wolfram Witt which deals with the lead character, a high school teacher, "coming out" and accepting himself as gay. It was one the last films made by DEFA, the East German state film studio, and the only one it made that dealt with issues around homosexuality. The film premiered at the Kino International in Berlin on 9 November 1989, the night that the Berlin Wall was opened. It won a number of awards including a Silver Bear and Teddy Award at 40th Berlin International Film Festival, and awards at the National Feature Film Festival of the GDR. The lead actors are Matthias Freihof, Dagmar Manzel, and Dirk Kummer. The film was shot on location in East Berlin and includes scenes shot with amateurs in some of the gay venues of the time.