Solo Sunny

Local title
Sunny soolo
Director
Kondrad Wolf, Wolfgang Kohlhaase
Country
Germany
Year
1980
Programme
In Focus: Germany, Old Gold: Classic Films Come to Life
Genre
Musical film
Subject
love, music, sexuality, soul-searching, women, youth, based on a true story

Sunny (Renate Krößner) is an aspiring pop singer whose defiant nature clashes with the patriarchal conventions of socialist East German society, both on stage and in her personal life. Her winding journey toward going solo is set against the bohemian backdrop of East Berlin, steeped in the stylish milieu of the time, accompanied by a captivating soundtrack.

This stunningly authentic story resonated with millions of young viewers on both sides of the Berlin Wall, quickly gaining cult status. It made Krößner an overnight fashion icon and one of her generation’s most prominent actresses, earning her the Silver Bear at the 1980 Berlinale.

"Solo Sunny" is one of East Germany’s cinematic gems, a swan song of a brief cultural thaw in the GDR, and one of the last examples of DEFA’s women's films.

Eva Näripea

Director
Kondrad Wolf, Wolfgang Kohlhaase
Screenwriter
Wolfgang Kohlhaase, Dieter Wolf
Cast
Renate Krößner, Alexander Lang, Dieter Montag, Heide Kipp, Klaus Brasch, Hansjürgen Hürrig
Cinematographer
Eberhard Geick
Music
Günther Fische
Runtime
Language
German
Subtitles
English
Other festivals
Berlin
Director
Kondrad Wolf

Sterne (Stars, 1959), Professor Mamlock (1961), Ich war neunzehn (I Was Nineteen, 1967), Goya (1971), Mama, ich lebe (Mama, I’m Alive, 1976), Solo Sunny (1979, co-dir)

Director
Wolfgang Kohlhaase

Berlin um die Ecke (Berlin around the Corner, 1966/1990, dir Gerhard Klein), Ich war neunzehn (I Was Nineteen, 1967, dir Konrad Wolf), Solo Sunny (1979, dir Konrad Wolf), Der Aufenthalt (Held for Questioning, 1982, dir Frank Beyer), Die Stille nach dem Schuss (The Legend of Rita, PÖFF 2000, dir Volker Schlöndorff)

German Films

German Films

Screenings

Hall Electric Cinema, TARTU
Screening024101 / Sunny soolo
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Hall 2 Kino Artis
Screening162204 / Sunny soolo
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Trailer