Helmut Kohl is a great man. Helmut Kohl has achieved a lot for the Federal Republic. Helmut Kohl brought unification to Germany. Yet what did the unification bring for Helmut Kohl? In Germany there are several men bearing this name. For instance in Wolfen: Helmut Kohl has lost everything since back then, but it could have been even worse. The GDR pensioner says farewell to his old homeland. Or take Crimmitschau: For Helmut Kohl it’s not been bad since the Wende of 1989, but things were better before. The innkeeper may have changed systems, but not his attitude. Helmut Kohl in Lorscheid says everything is OK in Germany, but it could be better still. The hard-working Westerner feels cheated of the fruits of his labor. Unlike Helmut Kohl from Duisburg: He has handled everything in life well; it’s only in the other Germany that things are going wrong. The architect, upright, noble, a good soul, loses his face in the East. And then on to Heidelberg: Helmut Kohl feels everything is still fine, but all too soon Germany will be in dire straits. The Polish-descended German sees youth and foreigners as ruining his beloved fatherland.

Upon reading Helmut Kohl’s biography Ich wollte Deutschlands Einheit, photographer and filmmaker Burkhard von Harder struck upon the idea of seeking out and photographing Helmut Kohl’s namesakes for a book. He found around 100 and sent them disposable cameras and a request to record themselves. In the end, he made closer contact with 16 protagonists. Based on this, he invited director Jean Boué to develop the concept for a film that leads right across Germany, somewhere between blooming landscapes and lost visions. Six of these men, ranging in age from 36 to 85, are portrayed in the film. Through interviews and based on objects and places, they are questioned regarding their fates since 1989 – how the Wende changed their lives, how their families fared, how the Easterners see the West and vice versa.

Director: Jean Boué
Idea: Burkhard von Harder
Assistant director: Antje Boehmert
Writer: Jean Boué
Cinematographer: Uli Fischer
Editor: Thomas Wellmann
Music: Eike Hosenfeld, Moritz Denis, Tim Stanzel
Sound: Timo Selengia
Commissioning editor: Beate Schönfeldt, Rolf Bergmann
Production managers: Gunter Hanfgarn, Antje Boehmert
Producer: Gunter Hanfgarn
Channels: MDR, RBB
Sponsor: Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg

– DOK Leipzig, 2009
– Achtung Berlin, 2010