English versionSynopsis
Today's hip image of Berlin is based on the city´s vibrant and subversive subcultures, which originally emerged within the grey walls surrounding West Berlin. The queer scene played a major role in creating that subculture, with its sexual diversity and its wild and unconstrained party culture, ranging from notorious clubs to CSD. Many of the scene´s actors, such as the Gay Museum, the Teddy Award, AIDS help organizations, and the queer magazine Siegessäule originated before 1989.
Yet gays in West Berlin suffered greatly under an incongruous provision in German law - the infamous "Paragraph 175" - that made homosexual acts between men a crime up until its reform in 1969. Raids and arrests in bars were common, yet ultimately failed in suppressing gay life in West Berlin. Instead, the city turned into a gay capital. The late seventies in particular were a period of great sexual and political freedoms and more intense social intermingling between the gay-, hetero-, and transsexual worlds. Then AIDS struck, wrecking greater havoc in Berlin than in any other German city.
After OUT IN EAST BERLIN (2013)*, MY WONDERFUL WEST BERLIN describes gay life in the western half of the city in the dynamic period between the end of WWII and the fall of the Berlin Wall, all the while referencing current social issues. The stories and experiences of political activists, party-goers, hedonists, club owners, musicians, fashion designers, a DJ, and a make-up artist paint a vivid picture of the gay scene in that period. The use of never before seen archival film footage completes the picture by allowing viewers to travel through time to a hitherto unknown WestBerlin.
MY WONDERFUL WEST BERLIN explores the historic roots of the fascinating city, that is a dream destination and a place of refuge for gay men form across the world to this day. The film is the second part of filmmaker Jochen Hick´s Berlin trilogy, the final part of which will focus on the period after the fall of the Wall, up until today.
* co-dir. A. Strohfeldt
Klaus Schumann, born 1937 in Berlin Schöneberg. After being a tailor's apprentice, he moved to Switzerland between 1957 and 1961. Jobs with distinguished fashion designers from West Berlin followed. He received his master craftsman certificate in 1975 and opened his own studio. Schumann outed himself publicly alongside more than 600 other gay men from West Berlin through a 1978 cover story by German news magazine Stern, titled "We are gay". The publication caused a breach with his family. Schumann lost his long-time boyfriend to AIDS. At over 80, he still works in his studio in Berlin Wilmersdorf as a couturier for ladies fashion. 
Rosa von Praunheim, born 1942 in Riga, Latvia. He grew up in Teltow-Seehof and later on, in the district of Praunheim in Frankfurt am Main. Rosa moved to Berlin in 1962. The name "Rosa" is a reference to the pink triangle that identified gay prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. His film It is not the homosexual who is perverse, but the society in which he lives is considered a beacon of the gay rights movement of the 70's. His AIDS films from the late 80's and early 90's were a catalyst for the German AIDS movement. 
René Koch, born 1945 in Heidelberg. René came to Berlin at age 18 and worked as a dishwasher, bartender, transvestite performer, and co-owner of a food store. He began his formation as a make-up artist in 1969 and became the chief make-up artist for Charles of the Ritz in New York in 1971. He returned to Berlin in 1990 and made a name for himself as one of the city's most sought after make-up artists. Koch became actively engaged in AIDS support organizations and launched the working group "Camouflage" in 1996 to support people with skin anomalies. He also established a lipstick museum in his home in Berlin Wilmersdorf and published an autobiography titled Abgeschminkt in 2016. René continues to maintain a decades-long friendship with star hairdresser Udo Walz. 
Wolfgang Theis, born 1948 in Gärtringen, in Southern Germany. He trained as a cook, then completed his military service with the German Navy. He lives in Berlin since the late '60s - much of that time in a shared flat - and is a co-founder of the HAW (Homosexual Action Group). Wolfgang then launched his career as a film critic, and in 1984, he helped create the exhibition "Eldorado - History, daily life and culture of homosexual women and men in Berlin 1850-1950" in the Berlin Museum. A year later, he co-founded the association "Friends of the Gay Museum in Berlin" and was awarded a Federal Cross of Merit in 2011 for his work for the Gay Museum. He still curates dozens of exhibitions at the museum. 
Wilfried Laule, born 1945 in Eigeltingen near Konstanz am Bodensee. He studied fine arts in Stuttgart and then Berlin, where he lives since 1970. As a founding member of the HAW, he filmed many of the group's actions and campaigns with his Super-8 camera. Wilfried taught art in several schools in Berlin and still works as a painter and photographer. His work has been published in magazines and books, and has been shown in a number of exhibitions, including two solo shows in Berlin's Gay Museum.
Salomé, born 1954 in Karlsruhe. He came to Berlin in 1973 and was part of the drag faction of the HAW while he studied at the "Universität der Künste". As an artist, he was considered part of the "Neue Wilde" movement of young painters from Germany and Austria. His big international break arrived in 1982, when his work was shown at the documenta 7 in Kassel. From 1983, he lived and worked as a painter and performance artist in New York, and returned to Berlin Kreuzberg in 1998. 
Egmont Fassbinder, born 1945 in Kippenheim. He lives in Berlin since 1965, where he moved at the end of high school in order to avoid doing his military service. Egmont studied social sciences in Heidelberg and at "Freie Universität" in Berlin. He was a member of the student parliament in the German Socialist Student Alliance (SDS) and is a co-founder and active member of the HAW. Since 1978, he heads the publishing company Verlag rosa Winkel, which publishes fiction and non-fiction books on gay related topics. 
Gerhard Hoffmann, born 1946. He studied political science in Munich and moved to Berlin in 1973 with his boyfriend Reinhard von der Marwitz. Both of them continued their studies at the Freie Universität. They were active in the HAW and co-founded the magazine Schwuchtel (1975), then the café "Anderes Ufer" (1977), and finally the publishing house "Albino Verlag" (1981). In 2016, he received the Federal Cross of Merit for his many years of activism in the gay rights movement.
Peter Hedenström, born 1948 in Lübeck. After high school, he studied German literature in Göttingen, and beginning in 1969, in Berlin. He was one of the founding members of HAW, as well as co-founder of the publishing house "Verlag rosa Winkel" (1975) and of the gay bookstore "Prinz Eisenherz" (1978), where he worked until 2003. In the mid 80's, the Prinz Eisenherz bookstore was one of Berlin's most important centers on AIDS information. 
Romy Haag, born in the Netherlands. After stints in Paris and New York, she moved to Berlin and opened the nightclub Chez Romy Haag in 1974, where she performed as a drag artist. The club was extremely popular up until 1983, when it closed its doors. Romy also acted in films, had her own TV show, and released several albums as a singer. To this day, she is considered one of the most versatile queer artists in Germany. She has been a member of the board of trustees of the Berlin AIDS support organization since the late 80's. 
Bob Schneider, grew up in the same building as Ades Zabel. They first met on a bus on the way home from the nightclub Dschungel on Adenauerplatz and have been working together ever since. Like Ades, Bob also worked as projectionist at the Moviemento cinema. In the 90's, he studied editing at the film school in Potsdam Babelsberg. In the role of "Jutta", he performs as a tourist tour guide of Berlin on a comedy bus and comedy boat. He is also the creator of a variety of theatrical performances. 
Wolfgang Müller, born 1957 in Wolfsburg. He had his coming-out in his home town and created the city's first gay group. In 1979 he participated in West Berlin's first Gay Pride march. Between 1980 and 1985, Wolfgang studied at Berlin's Hochschule der Künste and created an experimental band "Die tödliche Doris" with Nikolaus Utermöhlen. His book, Geniale Dilletanten, was published by Merve-Verlag in 1982. It became a manifesto of the young music and cultural scene of Berlin at the time. Since 1990, Wolfgang lives between Reykjavík and Berlin. 
Ades Zabel, born 1963 in Berlin Haselhorst. He grew up in Charlottenburg's Paul-Hertz neighborhood in West Berlin. Ades completed an apprenticeship in the men's wear department of the famous KaDeWe department store. A big fan of Super-8 movies, he shot his first film with friends in the early 80's, titled Edith Schröder. A German housewife, which became a cult hit. He made his living as a projectionist at the Moviemento cinema in Kreuzberg. Between 1987 and 1992, he created and acted (as Edith) alongside Bob Schneider (who played Jutta) in the film trilogy Drei Drachen vom Grill, a parody of the TV trilogy Drei Damen vom Grill. Ades Zabel and Bob Schneider still perform together in the same roles. 
DJ Westbam, born 1965 in Münster, was a major fan of punk music as a teenager. He moved to Berlin in 1983 and began his career as a DJ in the Metropol nightclub. In 1984 he published the text What is record art, in which he describes the DJ as a musician who composes entirely new pieces from existing albums. As a producer, Westbam is considered one of the pioneers of techno music. His name is short for Westfalia Bambaataa, a reference to the famous New York hip hop DJ Afrika Bambaataa. 
Wieland Speck, born 1951 in Freiburg im Breisgau. He lives in Berlin since 1972, where he studied German literature, Drama, and cultural anthropology at the "Freie Universität". He has been living in a men's commune ever since and only moved out in 2016. He first began making films in the 70's and directed Westler, a gay East-West love story, for the television channel ZDF in 1985. Alongside Manfred Salzgeber, he founded the lesbian-gay "Teddy film prize" in 1987, which is awarded every year at the Berlin film festival. Since 1992, he is the head programmer of the Panorama section of the Berlin Film festival. 
Dirk Ludigs, born 1965, grew up in the Saarland region and founded a lesbian-gay youth group in his home town in 1983. After graduating from high school, he came to Berlin and developed his own performance program in the "SchwuZ" nightclub in 1985. In 1987 he began working as a freelance journalist for the alternative radio station 100. He currently lives in the US. 
Wolfgang Winkler, born 1957 in Wolfsburg. He had his coming-out in his home town and created the city's first gay group. In 1979 he participated in West Berlin's first Gay Pride march. Between 1980 and 1985, Wolfgang studied at Berlin's Hochschule der Künste and created an experimental band "Die tödliche Doris" with Nikolaus Utermöhlen. His book, Geniale Dilletanten, was published by Merve-Verlag in 1982. It became a manifesto of the young music and cultural scene of Berlin at the time. Since 1990, Wolfgang lives between Reykjavík and Berlin. 
Patsy L' amour La Love, refers to herself as a professional drag queen. She studied at "Humboldt Universität" in Berlin and wrote her dissertation about the gay movement of the 70's. She calls the leading gay activists of the time her "mothers and sisters". Patsy organizes scientific and cultural events like the "Polymorphia" party in "SchwuZ" club and is active on the advisory board of Berlin's Gay Museum. In 2016, her book Self-hate & emancipation was published by Querverlag. 
Detlef Mücke, born 1944. He grew up in Hannover, studied in Göttingen, and has been living and working as a teacher in Berlin since 1971. Detlev is a co-founder of the teacher's group in the HAW. As an activist, he worked to end occupational bans for gay teachers and homosexual discrimination in the school syllabus. He came-out publicly in front of his students in 1978 and was one of the initiators of the working group of homosexual teachers and educators in the Education and Science union. 
Jochen Hick, born 1960 in Darmstadt. He grew up in the Taunus region, in Munich, and in Stuttgart. From 1981-87, Jochen studied film in Bologna, Italy, and at Hamburg's "Hochschule für Bildende Künste", with professors like Helke Sander. Since graduation, he has worked as a film director, author, journalist and producer for film and television, with a special focus on socio-cultural and LGBT topics. In 1994 he created his own production company, "Galeria Alaska Productions", with which he has produced a multitude of reports and documentaries for television stations ARD, ZDF/ARTE, 3sat, and Spiegel TV. Between 2007 and 2010, Jochen was the deputy program director and editor-in chief at TIMM, the first TV channel for gay men in the German-speaking world. Hick's films were presented at more than 300 international film festivals and received a number of awards, including the advancement award by German Film Critics (1987) and the Teddy award for best documentary (2003).
