My Life, slightly edited. Christoph Hein, writer

The film portrays the writer Christoph Hein, born in 1944 in Upper Silesia, who is one of the most well-known contemporary German authors, also internationally. As the child of a pastor, Hein was refused access to the Abitur (German A-levels) in the GDR in the late 1950s. Later, the father of his friend Thomas Brasch, deputy minister of culture, prevented Hein from studying at art colleges. Only after a series of twists and turns did Hein finally manage to study philosophy in Leipzig and Berlin. After a period as a dramaturg and writer-in-residence at the East Berlin Volksbühne theater during the Benno Besson era, he has been a freelance writer since 1979. During the Peaceful Revolution in the GDR, Hein was one of the speakers at the mass demonstration on December 4, 1989 at Alexanderplatz in Berlin. Even during the period of German division, Hein's prose and plays found a wide readership in both East and West Germany. He is one of the most important contemporary German authors; his works before and after German reunification have been translated many times. Wenzel is friends with and works with the singer-songwriter Hans-Eckardt Wenzel.