Dear Thomas
A special screening of the Grand Prix winner at PÖFF 2021, a version with Estonian audio description for the visually impaired and Estonian subtitles for the hearing impaired.
The struggles of East German author and filmmaker Thomas Brasch turn into a poetic and seductive cinematic journey - about the artist and the 20th century he lived in.
East Germany is still a young country, but Thomas Brasch is already an outsider. His father wants to help build the new German state, but his son Thomas would rather be a writer. He’s obsessive, a dreamer and a rebel. His very first play is banned, and soon afterwards he’s expelled from film school. When Soviet tanks roll through Prague in 1968, Thomas and other students demonstrate on the streets of Berlin. His father reports him to the Stasi, which lands him in prison. Released on parole, he works hard, loves, and suffers, and writes about love, revolt, and death. With no prospect of being heard in East Germany, Thomas and the woman he loves depart the homeland that wasn’t theirs. In the West, he is acclaimed, and his books become bestsellers, his films are invited to Cannes two times. But he refuses to be appropriated, and after the fall of the Berlin wall returns to east-Berlin.
Far from following biopic conventions, director Andreas Kleinert has taken the biography and made a manifesto for art and its power for change. Shot in marvellous black-and-white this film constantly changes between reality and feverish dream.
Christoph Gröner
The screening includes Estonian subtitles for deaf and hard of hearing audiences. The screening is also accessible to audiences with visual impairment to whom we recommend purchasing tickets to the front rows. Please find the film’s Estonian audio description on MovieReading app.
What do I need for using the audio description?
- a charged smartphone
- headphones
- app MovieReading
Please download the MovieReading app before going to the cinema. You can also pre-download audio description or subtitles in the app.
App store
Google Play
Before going to the cinema:
- Download the MovieReading app. Allow the app to use the microphone.
- Choose the Market page in the app, at the bottom of the screen. On the Market page, browse the available films and select the one you want to see. Choose either audio description or subtitles and the app will upload the file to My Movies page in seconds.
In the cinema:
- Select My Movies again, select the downloaded movie. When prompted, press OK as soon as the movie starts. Audio description or subtitles will be synchronized and start automatically.
Andreas Kleinert (1962) is one of Germany's most renowned directors whose feature films and TV movies have won numerous awards and have been represented at all international A-list film festivals. His debut film "Leb wohl, Joseph" (1990) had its world premiere in competition in Locarno. "Lost Landscape" (1992) premiered in the competition section of San Sebastian Film Festival. "Wege in die Nacht" (1999) opened the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and won two Federal Film Awards. For his highly acclaimed Alzheimer's drama "Mein Vater" (2003), he received the Emmy Award, among others. "Freischwimmer" (2007) screened at the Venice Film Festival, "Barriere" (2010) at the Berlinale. "Dear Thomas", which will have its special screening, was awarded the Grand Prix for Best Film at PÖFF 2021.
Filmography:
valik/selected: Leb' wohl, Joseph (1990), Verlorene Landschaft (Lost Landscape, 1992), Im Namen der Unschuld (In the Name of Innocence, 1997), Wege in die Nacht (1999, Rajad pimeduses, PÖFF 2000), Mein Vater (2003), Freischwimmer (Head Under Water, 2007), Barriere (2010), Lieber Thomas (Armas Thomas, PÖFF 2021)
Selected: Leb' wohl, Joseph (1990), Verlorene Landschaft (Lost Landscape, 1992), Im Namen der Unschuld (In the Name of Innocence, 1997), Wege in die Nacht (1999, Rajad pimeduses, PÖFF 2000), Mein Vater (2003), Freischwimmer (Head Under Water, 2007), Barriere (2010), Lieber Thomas (Dear Thomas, 2021)
