England!

Colour, 35mm
Germany, 2000, 98 min
Section: East Meets West

Synopsis

Victor and Valeri are inseparable bosom buddies. Since childhood they’ve had a great dream – to take a trip to England. Their journey is set in motion by the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station where they, like thousands of other soldiers from all around the Soviet Union, have been sent to clean up areas contaminated with radiation. Some realised the dangers posed by Chernobyl, others suspected nothing. When Valeri discovers that doctors can’t do anything for him he decides to look for Victor; he hopes that they, together, can fulfil their old dream. Victor last contacted Valeri from Berlin, but when he gets there he discovers that Victor has disappeared without trace. Valeri, however, doesn’t give up. . . . “The film is about a young man on the run – running away from himself, from his fate, from loneliness. He’s searching for happiness and has to find it as fast as possible. . . . England! is about the fear of abandoning one’s own ideas of happiness, about a fear that can be so great that a person loses everything.” Achim von Borries Ostdeutschen Rundfunk Brandenburg award at the 10th Cottbus Film Festival 2000.

About the director

Achim von Borries (b. 1968, Munich) studied history, politics and philosophy at the Freie Universität Berlin before going on, in 1993, to the German Film and Television Academy (Berlin). Filmography: short films – Die letzte Sozialistin (1994), Mutantenstadl (1994), Leipzig Express (1995) and Halberstadt (1998; awarded at the film school festival in Munich). England! is his feature film debut.