La Révolution silencieuse

The year is 1956. During a visit to the cinema in West Berlin, high school pupils Theo (Leonard Scheicher) and Kurt (Tom Gramenz) see dramatic pictures of the Hungarian uprising in Budapest on the newsreel. Back at school in Stalinstadt, they spontaneously decide to hold a minute's silence in solidarity with the victims of the uprising during a lesson. Gut the gesture causes much bigger ripples than expected: while their headmaster (Florian Lukas) initially tries to put the whole thing down to the whim of youth, the students become objects of the political machinations of the fledgling Eat Germany. The People's Education Minister (Burghart Klaubner) condemns the action as a clearly counter-revolutionary act and demands that the ringleader be named within a week. But the students stick together, making a decision that will change their lives forever. Based on the personal experiences and the eponymous book by Dietrich Garstka -- one of the 19 students who turned an entire state apparatus against them with a simple humane gesture.