East German time traveler exposes communist hypocrisy with mind-reading crystal — bureaucrats hate him!
A humorous and satirical comedy, which places a man from the year 2222 one day in the (then) present day life in GDR, East Germany under Communist regime. Using a crystal for mind reading he uncovers some improprieties and moral weaknesses in the "Beautiful future" professed by VEB ("Volkseigener Betrieb" – "State Owned Holdings").
Writing
Ballsy political satire smuggled past 1961 East German censors
Production
DIY futuristic props that scream 'socialist sci-fi on a budget'
Director
Frank Vogel
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
VEB satire was extraordinarily risky; DEFA studios occasionally greenlit thinly-veiled critiques that westerners missed entirely.
Director Frank Vogel later defected to West Germany in 1972, making this early work fascinatingly prophetic of his own escape from the system he mocked.
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