The GDR wanted to silence Wolf Biermann. After a concert in Cologne in 1976, it revoked his citizenship and barred him from returning. But his voice only grew louder and stirred both parts of divided Germany alike.

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Fifty years later, Wolf Biermann is back on stage. He sings and speaks about a life straddling East and West. Angela Merkel recalls his expatriation with personal reflections. Well-known figures from the worlds of acting, literature, and music engage with his work. Eyewitnesses recount what it meant to speak out in support of Biermann.

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Voices of the persecuted in our present day also have their say: authors in exile read their own texts on protest, loss, language, and freedom. The new feature-length documentary BIERMANN (2026) paints a captivating portrait of the artist whose life, more than almost any other, epitomizes German-German history.

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Featuring: Wolf Biermann, Angela Merkel, Balbina, Fabian Hinrichs, Pinar Atalay, Betterov, Gabriele Stötzer, Thomas Brussig, Bettina Wegner, Durs Grünbein, Charlotte Gneuß, Andrej Hermlin, Julia Schoch, Marko Martin, Lea Streisand, Lukas Rietzschel, Doris Liebermann, Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, and others. Voices of Exile: Alhierd Bacharevič, Delschad Numan Khorschid, Volha Hapeyeva, Ali Abdollahi, Mariam Meetra, Kateryna Mishchenko, Taqi Akhlaqi, and Widad Nabi

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Doors open: 4:00 p.m. Program: 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

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The festival flyer can be found here .

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An event organized by the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship at Kino International.