Memory of Berlin

An autobiographical film essay about origins and longing at the time of German reunification. The television images of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 provoke a powerful emotional reaction in British director John Burgan. As East and West Berlin come together, he begins to reflect on his own divided identity as an adopted child: “This city coming together seemed to open up a fault in me”. Elusive feelings of inner restlessness prompt him to overcome his fears and begin searching for his biological mother. Burgan weaves together 8mm home movies made by his adoptive parents – including footage of a holiday in West Berlin – alongside television archive, historical photographs and contemporary recordings, using poetic voice-over narration to create a meditation on identity and belonging. Reunification becomes a space in which his own story resonates. “Burgan not only draws parallels between his life and that of the city or a country; he also explores dual consciousness as a universal phenomenon, one which, moreover, continues to exist even after the fall of the Wall.” (Barbara Schweizerhof, Freitag, 32/2001) (jg)