"We first find out about it in the newspaper, which at this point is still entitled A New Day. Only recently has news of such events begun spreading. The District Committee of the National Front invites everyone to attend a public panel discussion, entitled 'Dialogue 89', at the Club House of Völkerfreundschaft on 26 October 1989. Something is finally happening in Frankfurt/Oder – so we decide to capture this new beginning on film.
Work on the film Oktoberfrühling [The October Spring] starts on the morning of 26 October when we set out to find the person who can give us a permit to film the discussion that evening. We learn that the city council is not authorised to do so, and the club-house manager is not entitled to either; the secretary of the district committee has to consult someone or other first; a leading member of the district SED who has been asked to help is sceptical and wants to consult someone 'higher up'. By the afternoon, we have two answers: the district committee of the National Front explicitly states that it welcomes the film; the district leadership of the SED says it is not interested in it.
When we arrive at the club house that evening with our camera, we are greeted with the question, asked with some bewilderment, as to whether we have not heard that the SED district leadership is not interested in our project. We point out that the inhabitants of the city might be interested, only to be told that filming is generally not permitted. The reason, we learn, is that it might disturb people in the hall. On hearing this, we demand that the matter be decided democratically by everyone attending the discussion.
'Dialogue 89' is finally opened by Mayor Krause, who starts by asking whether anyone has any objection to the use of cameras and microphones. A first victory for democracy! And, of course, we Frankfurters don’t object in the least. We interpret their consent as a request to film a documentary on the events in Frankfurt/Oder that autumn. The film premieres in mid-December 1989. At the time, we found the title Oktoberfrühling quite appropriate – now we see some things in a different light and feel the film has the air of a report from a bygone era."
Jürgen Herrmann (Frankfurt/Oder)
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