ODE TO JOY AND FREEDOM: THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL (TV)
Summary
This English adaptation of a documentary from Belgium chronicles the events surrounding the opening of the borders between East and West Germany in 1989. Narrated by Jerry Gerber, this program features news clips, archival footage, music, and interviews with German people to express the despair the wall brought to the German people, as well as the great joy associated with the destruction of the wall. The documentary reviews the events that led to the division of Germany, featuring archival footage of John F. Kennedy's "ich bien ein Berliner" speech, and outlines the events that occurred from October to December of 1989, during which the increasing number of escapes by East German youths and the growing discontent with the East German government led to the lifting of border restrictions, and eventually to the physical removal of parts of the wall itself. The program includes excerpts from speeches by President Ronald Reagan and Mayor Walter Momper of West Berlin, as well as footage of Mikhail S. Gorbachev; Lyndon B. Johnson; Tom Brokaw for NBC, outside of the Brandenburg Gate; Willy Brandt, former mayor of West Berlin; Gunter Schabowski, an East German government spokesperson; Helmut Kohl, chancellor of West Germany; and Leonard Bernstein speaking in German with English translation. Includes music by John Lennon, Nina Hagen, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by a grant from the Times Mirror Foundation.
Details
- NETWORK: (Belgium)
- DATE: April 10, 1990
- RUNNING TIME: 0:54:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:20213
- GENRE: Public affairs/documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989; Communism - 1989; Europe, Eastern - Foreign relations - 1989-; German reunification question (1949-1990); International Collection - Belgium; U S - Foreign relations - U S S R
- SERIES RUN: Belgium - TV, 1990
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Rainer Hohler … Executive Producer
- Beate Schubert … Director, Writer
- Eberhard Bussem … Reporter
- Horst Hano … Reporter
- Gerhard Horstmeier … Reporter
- Ralph Lange … Reporter
- Hans Joachim Lorenz … Reporter
- Nicole Massion … Reporter
- Sabine Nawroth … Reporter
- Claus Richter … Reporter
- Fritz Schmaldienst … Reporter
- Siegfried Wiechmann … Reporter
- Ulli Zelle … Reporter
- Jerry Gerber … Narrator
- Dan Rogers … Voice
- Monika Solem … Voice
- Shaun Lawton … Voice
- Bill Peterson … Voice
- Werner Poland … Voice
- Holly-Jane Rahlens … Translator
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Leonard Bernstein
- Willy Brandt
- Tom Brokaw
- Mikhail S. Gorbachev
- Nina Hagen
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- John F. Kennedy
- Helmut Kohl
- John Lennon
- Walter Momper
- Ronald Reagan
- Gunter Schabowski