›Your Unknown Brother‹, GDR 1981, Direction: Ulrich Weiß
Copyright: DEFA-Stiftung, Christa Köfer
Dein unbekannter Bruder
Si̇nema Transtopia
Resistance to the National Socialists flares up in Hamburg in 1935. Men paint “Unite!” on a wall and are arrested by the Gestapo—someone must have betrayed them. The scene plays out in the memory of Arnold Clasen, who is a cinema projectionist after his imprisonment for taking an early stand against the Nazi regime. Now he lives in fear and seclusion and tries not to attract attention. He seeks friendship with his contact, the communist Walter. But can he trust him? Arrests continue to be made in the resistance movement... From open acts of resistance to inner conflict and the struggle to find a political stance, this film shifts the “action” to the protagonist’s psyche.
GDR 1981, Ulrich Weiß, 109 min, OV
Introduction: Philip Zengel (DEFA-Stiftung)
In German
| Tickets | €9 |
| When | Sun 26.10.25, 11:00 |
| Where |
Si̇nema Transtopia |
Film details
Film details
Film data
D: Ulrich Weiß
SP: Wolfgang Trampe & Ulrich Weiß
DoP: Claus Neumann
E: Ursula Rudzki
S: Cäsar Gremmler
M: Peter Rabenalt
C: Uwe Kockisch, Michael Gwisdek, Jenny Gröllmann, Bohumil Vávra, Karin Gregorek
P: DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme
Original format: 35 mm, 1:1.66, color
Screening print: 2K DCP, 109 min, Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin
Restoration info
An original 35mm negative from the Federal Archives was used for the image restoration (4K wetgate scan). The digital processing was done in 2K at Omnimago. The source material for the sound was a 17,5 mm magnetic soundtrack. The restoration was carried out with the support of the Film Heritage Funding Program (FFE).
Philip Zengel
studied communication science and management in Erfurt, Oslo and Leipzig. In 2017, he wrote his master’s dissertation on “Online-Kommunikationsstrategien in der Filmwirtschaft – Vermarktungsmöglichkeiten von Kinospielfilmen in Deutschland”. In addition to his studies, he worked for the DEFA Foundation in Berlin for many years; since 2020, he has headed the public relations department there. In this position, he gives film introductions and writes film history texts.