A Night in November (1/6)

A Night in November (1/6)

Martin Kupfer is still having terrible nightmares. It has been two years now since the death of his beloved Julia but the pain has not eased. Ever since he discovered that their daughter Anna did not die at birth, as they had been told, but was instead taken by the doctor and swapped for a dead baby, he has been obsessed with finding her. When he arrives at the family home where Anna was living he learns that the Simkows fled to the West via Hungary. Martin is devastated. His brother, Falk, meanwhile, is on a downward spiral into hatred and loneliness. His wife, Vera, left him 18 months ago to live with the dissident pastor Robert Wolff. Falk has made Wolff his very personal target and has ordered his colleague Gerd Rothals to run surveillance on him. Hans Kupfer warns his son to see reason. Given the current political situation, another Stasi escapade could trigger a catastrophic escalation. Privately, Hans has long since distanced himself from the party line. His wife Marlene, on the other hand, is taking the collapse of the state very hard. And her health is not good. She has heart problems and is secretly taking tablets. Dunja Hausmann, Hans' childhood sweetheart, is back to her old self. Thanks to her popularity as a singer and her openly critical stance she has since become a poster child for the civil rights movement "Democratic Forum". The forum initiators - which include Vera Kupfer and Nicole, Robert Wolff's sister - are overwhelmed by the encouragement they are receiving and the interest that citizens have in restructuring the country. At the same time, they are deeply concerned as Robert has disappeared. Which is why Vera is not in celebratory mood even when she sees Schabowski's press conference on the television and shortly thereafter the Wall comes down.

Taking its name from the locality in the then divided city that houses the notorious Stasi secret police-run Hohenschönhausen prison, the series tells of young police officer Martin, from a loyal Party family, who falls in love with the beautiful young and rebellious Julia, from a family of dissidents: a Romeo & Juliet saga of two lovers struggling against prejudices and the social and political odds.

Grimme Award 2016
German Screen Actors Award 2014
German TV Award 2011 for Best Series
Nominated for Prix Europa 2011  
The first 6 episodes to be screened at Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) New York in April 2011.

PRESS REVIEWS

• Family saga Weissensee recounts what life in East Germany was like, in a DALLAS style. (Der Spiegel, Sept. 13, 2010)
  
• Weissensee (...) is simply a well-made drama, which profits from a tight story arc, a superb cast and terrific set design. (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Sept. 14, 2010)
  
• Behind the surface story of two families in 1980s Socialist East Germany - replete with romance, intrigue and betrayal - a piece of real life emerges: authentic, dramatic. (Welt Online, Sept. 14, 2010)
  
• A courageous effort - which pays off handsomely. Beneath the soap opera plot, a complex web of desires and wishes emerges, of self-deception and patronizing. (Spiegel Online, Sept. 14, 2010)
  
• A highly original TV series. (Leipziger Volkszeitung, Sept. 6, 2010)
  
• Germany's biggest newspaper BILD headlined "The most spectacular TV series of the year." (Sept. 11, 2010)