Bettina by Lutz Pehnert – Germany, 2022, 107’

Fotografia Anne Misselwitz, Thomas Lütz
Montaggio Thomas Kleinwächter
Musica Bettina Wegner
Produttore Susann Schimk
Produzione solo:film con Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (info@solofilmproduktion.de)

Bettina explores one of the most exciting and unique artists’ biographies of the 20th century. Born in West Berlin in 1947, raised in East Berlin and eventually expatriated at the age of 36, Bettina Wegner has led an eventful life. A passionate Stalin admirer as a child, she grew into a hopeful teenager wanting to shape society with her songs. Bettina not only became an inspiring musician but also a resistance fighter, committed to nobody’s morals but her own. It is a story of heroism, but also of grief, devotion, ups and downs, and the futility of life.

I first met Bettina Wegner shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall when I travelled from East to West Berlin, more specifically to Frohnau. It was an almost surreal encounter. We both came from the same country, yet lived in two different worlds. She knew my world, but I did not know hers. In the 30 years that followed we saw each other again at concerts or when I interviewed her. I believe she still lives in two different worlds – here and over there – even though she might not really know where those places are. [Lutz Pehnert]

Lutz Pehnert (Berlin, 1961) has been working as an author and director for TV since 1995, specializing in portraits and artist biographies. His works include Brand (1996) on the consequences of reunification, DDR Ahoi! (2011) and Partisan (2019), all three presented at the Berlinale.