Bettina: A Documentary on the Life and Music of Berlin Singer-Songwriter Bettina Wegner

Berlin. Her voice is noticeably brighter than today. She also sounds a little intimidated, but yet determined and precise. When the “defendant Wegner” has to answer. What her name is. Where she lives. And why she distributed leaflets in Berlin mailboxes after the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968: “I immediately found that wrong. Then I thought to myself that I wanted to do something.” The photo that was taken of her for the files bears the note “Bln. 79-68”.

One of many state security interrogations against Bettina Wegner. But she saw it as salvation. Because that’s why she came out of the solitary cell. And her interrogator was always nice to her. He did, however, peck at the typewriter with two fingers. The defendant, on the other hand, also had typing lessons when she was training to become a library worker. “Then I said: If it wasn’t all so absurd, I would say, give me the typewriter, I’ll type.” The interrogator was only too happy to agree to this: “Then I typed my own interrogation. “

She wasn’t allowed to perform in the East and didn’t want to move to the West

Documentaries about musicians primarily rely on recordings from their concerts. And from conversations with the artists themselves – if they are still alive and want to express themselves. Bettina Wegner wanted. She sits again and again in the film “Bettina” on her sofa in Frohnau, always with a cigarette in her hand, as if she had grown taller. A flame that never seems to go out, just like the singer’s energy.

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But this documentary, which premiered at the Berlinale 2022, relies on another, very special and quite unique source: the Stasi tape recordings it had to undergo 55 years ago. And so Bettina Wegner can be heard with two voices: here the songwriter, who was 73 years old at the time of filming, whose voice has become noticeably darker, and not just because of the cigarettes. And her young self, who was just 20 years old before the Stasi, already took a very self-confident, clear stance.

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This material is so strong that the film can completely do without the interviews with contemporaries and companions that are typical of the genre. Here a woman, completely alone and yet somehow in a double, tells her life. One that is exceptional in every way. And yet it is an example of German-German history. On October 3rd, the day of German unity, “Bettina” will be shown again in the Film series “Hauptrolle Berlin”, in which the Berliner Morgenpost, together with the Zoo Palast, shows a real Berlin film on the first Tuesday of every month. And Bettina Wegner comes personally to talk about the film.

She wanted to help build the GDR: But then everything turned out differently

A film that begins with rehearsals for a current concert. And in doing so, you basically tune yourself in. Who later also attends the concert. And thus her everyday life as an artist. But then you hear the interrogation on tape. And then you sit with Bettina Wegner in her apartment, leafing through her photo album with her. And listens spellbound.

What a life. Born in West Berlin, the family moves to the east of the city because the father works there as a journalist, is paid in Ostmark and cannot pay the West rent. As a little girl, Bettina was so enthusiastic about the GDR that her parents were very unhappy: “West Berlin,” she still smiles today, “was enemy territory for me. Stalin was like God.” She wanted to help build this state. But then things turned out differently. Through her protest in 1968, for which she was convicted of “anti-state agitation” and had to prove herself as a factory worker. By constantly monitoring the artistic circles in which she moved. And finally, in 1976, when she protested against the expatriation of her colleague Wolf Biermann and was thus banned from working herself.

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The young singer-songwriter, here an exception from the 70s.
Photo: (c) Werner Popp

She was only allowed to perform in the West. But didn’t want to leave the GDR. Until they were forced to do so too. By threatening her with an investigation into “suspicion of customs and foreign exchange offenses”. She admits that she couldn’t have survived going to prison again. So she left. A schizophrenic situation, to this day: “When I say over there, I mean here. West Berlin. But I never use strokes,” she says. And admits: “I’m homesick for home.” With the addition: “wherever that may be.” She has been uprooted ever since.

The man who managed to make this unique and personal film, which not coincidentally only has his first name in the title, is Lutz Pehnert. Born in the east of the city in the year the Wall was built, the Grimme Prize winner has made it his mission to repeatedly document people and stories from the GDR.

Lutz Pehnert, a filmmaker who repeatedly documents the people of the GDR

In works such as “DDR ahoy” (2010), “The East Germans” (2014), “Ostrock – between love and anger” (2015), “Ostfrauen” (2019) or “Who we are – the DNA of the East” (2020 ). The filmmaker met Bettina Wegner shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. “I came to her in the West from East Berlin,” he remembers: “It was an almost surreal encounter. We both came from one country – and lived in two different worlds. She knew mine, but I didn’t know hers.”

They met again and again over the next 30 years. At concert performances. Or for interviews. Like most recently for the RBB series “Berlin – Fateful Years of a City”. This gave rise to the idea of ​​an independent film about this unique contemporary witness. Because, says Pehnert: “To this day, the history of this century is in your bones, in your soul, in your thoughts.” And of course also in your songs.

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The songwriter in her house, with a view of the garden, behind which the S-Bahn trains, which stood still during the years of the Wall, rattle again.
Photo: Thomas Otto

A film that is about difficult, depressing years. And yet it is always extremely funny. Because the singer-songwriter describes it in a flippant, direct way with a Berlin snout. This is also one of many nice anecdotes, they wanted to drive her parents out: the children received one mark in pocket money, but a pfennig was deducted for every Berlin word. Original sound Wegner: “Well, I don’t have any pocket money anymore. So I could also Baline.”

And another incredible punchline that only life can write: She moved into a garden house in Frohnau, behind which were old, weathered S-Bahn tracks. Is there anything else that can move? she wanted to know. Only if the Allies agree on reunification, the owner replied. “We both slapped each other on the thighs and laughed.” Now the S-Bahn is running again. And while the singer is telling this, in the garden, in front of the camera, you can actually hear her passing by in the background. World history just doesn’t seem to want to let go of the songwriter.

She didn’t want to sing her most famous song for a long time and now she does

It’s an exciting, stirring film that follows the journey of this steadfast artist on many levels. Of course also with many songs. And excerpts from TV appearances, from her first concert in the West, at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, or the current one, which she is preparing for while filming. There she sings her most famous song: “Are such little hands”.

She hasn’t sung that for a long time. Precisely because that’s all people have ever known. But then the right-wing rock band Spreegeschwader rewritten it: “These are our children / Our greatest asset / Protect our children / Protect our blood”. Here too, Wegner showed a clear stance: she didn’t write it for them. So she hired a lawyer. And won. And that’s why she sings it again. Also in the film. Even if not with a guitar, as before, because the right hand “has a masticatory operation”. Then just a cappella.

2023-09-23 07:29:53
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