Beyond the Blue Border

Swimming 50 kilometres across the Baltic Sea – Hanna crosses the inter-German border for her best friend Andreas. This dramatic adventure tells the story of a close friendship under the burden of harsh repression in the GDR. 

Sarah Neumann’s film observes a border crossing from East to West Germany: Hanna and Andreas have to swim 50 km across the Baltic Sea. The film is about the close friendship between three 15-year-olds, whose everyday lives reflect different ways of dealing with the structures of the GDR: one protests and is constantly sanctioned, the second has to put all her talents at the service of the state, the third is lucky enough to receive permission to leave. 

The three of them are best friends, with all the romanticism that one can imagine. They get up to mischief, they trust each other, they – at least the boys – want to provoke the adults. Hanna, on the other hand, takes her swimming training seriously. But she is also afraid of provocation, because she sees how Andreas is sent to a “youth workhouse,” a kind of work camp, after two harmless pranks. When he is allowed out again, his carefree cheerfulness is gone, which is quite a blow to Jens and Hanna. The situation escalates and Andreas ultimately presents his best friend with the most difficult decision of her life.

Image © Jakob Fliedner