eVideo
Kanopy
Coming Out
Summary
Although he has a girlfriend who is expecting his child, Philipp, a young teacher in Berlin, meets Matthias and falls in love. After years of repressing his homosexuality, he must finally accept himself for who he truly is. The first and only DEFA feature film about homosexuality, Coming Out premiered on November 9, 1989 ... the evening the Berlin Wall came down. Philipp and Tanja teach at the same school. Both enjoy their work immensely, win their pupils' trust and talk about pressing problems. Tanja, especially, sees the love of her life in this friend. Philipp is attracted to her as well, but when a friend from his youth reminds him of an earlier erotic bond, he realizes that he is gay. It is a fact he has been repressing for years. Philipp falls passionately in love with Matthias. Matthias puts all his trust in Philipp and the relationship seems to have potential . . . but Philipp is a coward. He lacks the courage to tell Tanja the truth, as she is expecting his child, and he also fails to commit himself to Matthias or honestly confront his sexual orientation.