Line of Separation

Series | German with English subtitles | 2 seasons (6 episodes). Each episode is 90 minutes

Info

In the last months of World War II, the United States, England, France and the Soviet Union, all agreed to divide Germany into four regions administered by each Allied country. Several towns straddled two regions, sometimes separated by a river or a road. Such was the fictional town of Tannbach. One side was administered by the U.S., the other side by the Soviet Union. The Cold War, and the determination of the Soviet Union to convert all of Germany to Communism, created heart-wrenching and tragic consequences for the residents of these border towns. The Soviets built a wall and ruthlessly guarded the border preventing their residents from escaping to the West and smuggling goods. Violators were either executed or relocated to remote camps. The Russians also expropriated large land holdings and parceled portions of the land to farmers loyal to the system. This tragic era lasted until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Cast

Henrietta Confurius (Anna von Striesow) / Jonas Nay (Friedrich Erler) / Ludwig Trepte (Lothar Erler) / Maria Dragus (Theresa Prantl)

Why Stream This Series?

Screenwriters Josephin and Robert Thayenthal explained Line of Separation as follows: “Television won’t be able to give answers, but perhaps it will give a sense of how people feel, think, act, how they develop and harden, how they behave under the threat of overwhelming power and in the grip of extreme fear.”