Hot Summer (Heißer Sommer)

The East-German Grease!

Two groups of secondary-school students – eleven girls and ten boys – meet on their way to a holiday on the Baltic. This unexpected hit and camp classic from the former GDR was inspired by American ‘Beach Party’ films from the early 60s. In a culture gripped by far-reaching political upheaval, this wonderfully guileless and naïve musical meant pure escapism for teenagers behind the Iron Curtain. The film bore a unique promise of freedom and happiness in the Socialist system that fell to pieces when Russian tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of August 1968.

© PROGRESS Film-Verleih