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Great Freedom

Grosse Freiheit

Sebastian Meise | 2021 | 116 MINS
Austria/Germany | Subtitles
International Panorama: Austria

Postwar Germany and Hans is repeatedly imprisoned for being homosexual. Sebastian Meise’s arresting drama offers a powerful reflection on historical injustice and the persecution of homosexuals, seen through the eyes of one man.

Please note that this film is certified 18, and not 15 as incorrectly printed in the brochure.

In Detail

Under the Nazis, the much-contested Paragraph 175 law of 1871 was invoked to justify the persecution and incarceration of homosexuals. Hans first comes to this prison from a concentration camp.

After the war, the regime changed, but the notorious law remained in force until 1969. Over the course of decades, a primal bond grows between the initially revolted cellmate Viktor and Hans.

It is a hard-hitting, often uncompromising piece of work, yet beneath its tough exterior lies a deeply unsentimental, disarmingly tender love story that is almost impossible to forget.

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