''Solo Sunny'' is a 1980 East German
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Konrad Wolf
Konrad Wolf (20 October 1925 – 7 March 1982) was an East Germany, East German film director. He was the son of writer, doctor and diplomat Friedrich Wolf (writer), Friedrich Wolf, and the younger brother of Stasi spymaster Markus Wolf. "K ...
and
Wolfgang Kohlhaase
Wolfgang Kohlhaase (13 March 1931 – 5 October 2022) was a German screenwriter, film director, and writer. He was considered "one of the most important screenwriters in German film history", and was one of the East Germany, GDR's most well-know ...
. It was entered into the
30th Berlin International Film Festival
The 30th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18–29 February 1980. The Golden Bear was awarded to the American film ''Heartland'' directed by Richard Pearce and West German film '' Palermo oder Wolfsburg'' directed by Werne ...
, where
Renate Krößner
Renate Krößner also known as Renate Krössner (17 May 194525 May 2020) was a German actress who was internationally recognized for roles in films and television. She was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actress of the Berlinale for the title ro ...
won the
Silver Bear for Best Actress
The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...
.
''Solo Sunny'' was the last completed film directed by
Konrad Wolf
Konrad Wolf (20 October 1925 – 7 March 1982) was an East Germany, East German film director. He was the son of writer, doctor and diplomat Friedrich Wolf (writer), Friedrich Wolf, and the younger brother of Stasi spymaster Markus Wolf. "K ...
.
Plot
Ingrid "Sunny" Sommer is a singer for an East German band, called the Tornadoes, whose audience is usually senior citizens. For Sunny, performing as a solo pop singer is her dream but singing the same song over and over to a small crowd has not gotten her there yet. When the saxophone player of the band is injured, the musician and philosopher Ralph steps in to substitute for him. Sunny falls for Ralph's saxophone skills, and soon they become lovers. Sunny asks Ralph to write her a song, and eventually he agrees. After walking off the stage before a performance, Sunny is soon replaced in the band by a new girl. Sunny turns to Ralph for comfort and finds him cheating on her. Finally Sunny has a chance to sing solo on stage with the song Ralph wrote for her, but she does not feel the love that she desires from the audience and gives up. After mixing sleeping pills and alcohol Sunny ends up in a hospital where she stays for rehabilitation. Once Sunny gets back on her feet she goes back to her old factory job, but she quits shortly after starting. The film ends with Sunny being accepted as a singer for another band with a sound different from the Tornadoes.
Cast
*
Renate Krößner
Renate Krößner also known as Renate Krössner (17 May 194525 May 2020) was a German actress who was internationally recognized for roles in films and television. She was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actress of the Berlinale for the title ro ...
as Sunny
*
Alexander Lang
Alexander Lang (born 24 September 1941) is a German actor and stage director.
Life
Early years
Lang was born in Erfurt a couple of years after the outbreak of the Second World War. His father was an architect. He attended the Humboldt ("Gra ...
as Ralph
*
Dieter Montag
Dieter or dieter may refer to:
* A person committed to dieting
People
Dieter is a German given name (), a short form of Dietrich, from ''theod+ric'' "people ruler", see Theodoric.
Given name
*Dieter Althaus (born 1958), German politician
...
as Harry
*
Heide Kipp as Christine
*
Klaus Brasch as Norbert
*
Hansjürgen Hürrig as Hubert
*
Harald Warmbrunn
Harald or Haraldr is the Old Norse form of the given name Harold. It may refer to:
Medieval Kings of Denmark
* Harald Bluetooth (935–985/986)
Kings of Norway
* Harald Fairhair (c. 850–c. 933)
* Harald Greycloak (died 970)
* Harald Hardrad ...
as Benno
*
Olaf Mierau as Udo
*
Ursula Braun Ursula may refer to:
* Ursula (name), feminine name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* ''Ursula'' (album), an album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron
*Ursula (crater), a crater on Titania, a moon of Uranus
*Ursula (det ...
as Frau Pfeiffer
*
Regine Doreen as Monika
*
Klaus Händel as Bernd
*
Rolf Pfannenstein Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' ( Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The Old Norse cognate is ''Hrólfr''. ...
as Ernesto
* as Detlev
*
Fred Düren
Fred Düren (1928–2015) was a German stage, film and television actor.Goble p.251 His career was spent in East Germany, where he appeared in several DEFA films including the historical adventure ''Follow Me, Scoundrels'' (1964). He was married t ...
as Doktor
*
Ulrich Anschütz as Grafiker
Production
Wolfgang Kohlhaase
Wolfgang Kohlhaase (13 March 1931 – 5 October 2022) was a German screenwriter, film director, and writer. He was considered "one of the most important screenwriters in German film history", and was one of the East Germany, GDR's most well-know ...
, East Germany's most important screenwriter, wrote the screenplay for ''Solo Sunny'' and was made co-director of the film.
> The inspiration for this film was a German singer named
Sanije Torka who was born of eastern European immigrant parents.
Jutta Voigt, a German journalist who interviewed Torka and had connections to Kohlhaase, was a consultant for the film.
The information used for the film drew on an interview Voigt had done with the singer in 1976 that was never published because her lifestyle did not fit East German socialist views.
Reception
Although ''Solo Sunny'' was a film in which the East German socialist ideals were sometimes blatantly disregarded, it was not banned or censored by
DEFA
DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence.
Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PRO ...
, the state-owned film studio.
The film was based on a protagonist who was independent and who longed to succeed as a solo artist, which promoted individuality over the collective group.
Audiences from East Germany and West Germany alike saw this and revered the character Sunny as a person that they felt exemplified who they wanted to be.
In East Germany the showing of ''Solo Sunny'' resulted in sold-out seats with over a million viewers during the span of 19 weeks when it ran in the
Kino International
The Kino International is a film theater in Berlin, built from 1961 to 1963. It is located on Karl-Marx-Allee in former East Berlin. It hosted premieres of the DEFA film studios until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Today it is a protected ...
theater in East Berlin.
Young people of the
GDR
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
even copied Sunny's fashion following the release of the film.
Awards
Within the year that the film was released it had won a total of 13 awards and one nomination from various film festivals.
From the
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
the film won the
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...
Critics' Prize, the Reader Jury of the "Berliner Morgenpost", the Silver Bear and a nomination for the
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin.
History
The winn ...
.
''Solo Sunny'' also won the Golden Plaque for Best Script from the
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
.
At the Eberswalde Film Festival it won many of categories including Competition, Best Director, Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Film Score, Best Editing and Best Art Director.
See also
*
Film censorship in East Germany
Film censorship in East Germany was common at a politically sensitive time in history. Despite the three consecutive constitutions of the German Democratic Republic proclaiming freedom from censorship, in practice certain films were regulated. The ...
*
30th Berlin International Film Festival
The 30th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18–29 February 1980. The Golden Bear was awarded to the American film ''Heartland'' directed by Richard Pearce and West German film '' Palermo oder Wolfsburg'' directed by Werne ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solo Sunny
1980 films
1980 drama films
1980s musical drama films
German musical drama films
East German films
1980s German-language films
Films set in Berlin
Films directed by Konrad Wolf
Films directed by Wolfgang Kohlhaase
Babelsberg Studio films
Films about singers
1980s German films