In 1990 Germany was reunited after having been divided for 41 years.
The video was shot in the Harz region at the former german-german border. It stages the ‘Kolonnenweg’, the concrete track where the eastern german state police used to patrol and which – after the removal of walls and fences – remains as some sort of unintended monument. To the East and West of the Kolonnenweg, young pioneer woods have reclaimed the once mined, paved or cleared grounds. Today the former German border stretches like a green ribbon of unspoiled nature through Germany, from the Czech border to the Baltic Sea.
The actors are young people from the Harz region all born in 1990. They visualise the time that has passed since the reunification. First they are standing on one side of the former border and looking across this once massive and now virtual barrier to the other side. Then they start walking towards and across this once impenetrable line. The scenes with two persons are meant to represent the delicate phase of the mutual approach of the once divided people.
While the reunification is a happy end it will at the same time remain a relic of all the cruel and sad times that preceded.
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