Heißer Sommer

Heißer Sommer, aka Hot Summer (USA), is a 1968 East German musical film. A 2001 video release promotes the film as "The East German Grease" although perhaps it is closer in concept to the 1963 British movie, "Summer Holiday" which starred Cliff Richard.

A group of girls and a separate group of boys come across each other whilst travelling from Leipzig to Ruegen Island for a summer holidays. Initially trying to ignore and avoid each other, the two groups find themselves billeted close by, relaxing together, enjoying each other's company and the resulting relationships that develop. The movie deals with the conflicts of each relationship in the group by singing and dancing their way through each situation including a brief encounter with the VoPo's - the police. Holiday summer fun, travel, relationships and even a touch of "Good Citizen of the DDR" are combined to create a true 1960's teenage feel-good movie. The majority of the film is shot on Ruegen Island which at the time, was a popular destination for East Germans and today is popular with travellers the world over. Included are some early footage of Leipzig and East Berlin during the reconstruction and re-building era of the former GDR - along with some hip 1960's Socialist music!

During its original run, the film sold 3,441,595 tickets.