| In a Land That No Longer Exists | |
| Director: | Aelrun Goette |
| Producer: | Tanja Ziegler |
| Starring: | Marlene Burow Sabin Tambrea David Schütter Claudia Michelsen Jördis Triebel |
| Music: | Boris Boyadzhiev |
| Cinematography: | Benedict Neuenfels |
| Editing: | Julia Karg |
| Runtime: | 101 minutes |
| Country: | Germany |
| Language: | German |
In a Land That No Longer Exists (de|'''In einem Land, das es nicht mehr gibt''') is a 2022 German historical drama film, written and directed by Aelrun Goette in her feature debut.[1] [2]
The film is about a young woman who is thrust into the fashion scene of communist East Germany after a photograph of her ends up by chance on the cover of Sibylle magazine. It is partially based on the life story of Goette, who was also a model in East Germany.[3]
In 1989, 18-year-old Suzi is caught by the Volkspolizei with the book 1984 and a "Swords to Ploughshares" patch. She is barred from her high school graduation exams and is forced to work in an electrical cable factory. One day while riding a tram, Suzi is randomly photographed by a young photographer, Coyote, and ends up on the cover of the Sibylle fashion magazine. Suzi is invited to the editorial office, and takes a modelling job with the magazine to escape her life as a factory worker. She delves both into the world of "official" East German fashion, and also the fashion underground with her mentor, the gay, free-spirited Rudi. Suzi experiences greater freedom and falls in love with Coyote – but Coyote wants to escape to the West. Suzi must choose between leaving her career as a model and betraying her friends.