Twenty-five years after the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), filmmaker Petra Epperlein returns to the proletarian Oz of her childhood to find the truth about her late father’s suicide and his rumored Stasi past. Had he been an informant for the secret police? Was her childhood an elaborate fiction? As she looks for answers in the Stasi’s extensive archives, she pulls back the curtain of her own ostalgia and enters the parallel world of the security state, seeing her former life through the lens of the oppressor. Reconstructing everyday GDR life through declassified Stasi surveillance footage, the past plays like dystopian science fiction, providing a chilling backdrop to interrogate the apparatus of control and the meaning of truth in a society where every action and thought was suspect. (USA/Germany, 2016)
Director: Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker
Writer: Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker
Co-presenter: Metropolitan Theatres
Run Time: 1h 25m
“A smart, highly personal addition to the growing syllabus of distressingly relevant cautionary political tales.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times
“At a time when Edward Snowden’s NSA disclosures are suggesting a digital surveillance state, “Karl Marx City” makes for a particularly resonant warning from the not-so-distant past.” – Scott Tobias, Variety
Aspen Film brings locals and visitors opportunities to view films they they might not otherwise get to experience in our community through our monthly Indie Showcase at Aspen’s Isis Theater. Aspen Film members receive discounted tickets to all Monthly Indie Showcase presentations. Not a member? Join now and receive complimentary admission to your next Monthly Indie Showcase!
