Wolf Biermann Documentary Screens at Vienna's Viennale
Jens Meurer's documentary Biermann screens at the 64th Viennale, the Vienna film festival, on 26 and 27 October. The festival runs through 3 November.
The film is about Wolf Biermann, the singer-songwriter, poet and writer. Biermann was born in Hamburg in 1936 and moved to the German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany, in 1953. In the documentary, he narrates his own life across several versions of Germany, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film had its world premiere at FilmFest Hamburg, where it was also programmed for 2026. Majestic Filmverleih will release it in Germany, and Filmladen will release it in Austria, the same report says.
Meurer told The Hollywood Reporter that Biermann became a film for today and about today. He said it speaks to the situation in the age of Trump. He was born in Nuremberg in 1963 and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, from the age of twelve, according to the Viennale's guest notes.
The screenplay is credited to Dirk Kämper, Jens Meurer and Pamela Biermann. Pamela Biermann developed the concept with Kämper, the Viennale notes say. The Viennale's film page lists the running time as 121 minutes.
The documentary was shot on 16mm, a film format narrower than the one most cinemas used for big releases, the Viennale also reports. It is presented in its German original with English subtitles, so audiences in Vienna can follow the spoken word without knowing German.
For Viennale audiences, the two screenings fall in the middle of the festival's run. Those who miss them will have to wait for the German and Austrian cinema releases, which have not yet been given dates.
