Trailer
Plot summary
In 1978 in the East German town of Pößneck, Peter Strelzyk and Günter Wetzel decide to take their families out of the country. Emigration to West Germany is prohibited, and the inner German border is guarded by watch towers, dogs, alarms, searchlights and patrols, with rumors that some stretches are mined. Peter proposes crossing by air: a homemade hot air balloon big enough for eight people. The two families buy large amounts of taffeta, and Günter sews it into a balloon envelope on a machine in his attic while Peter works out a burner. There are fires during inflation attempts, power problems and suspicious neighbors, and Günter's wife Petra has doubts about whether the plan can work.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Night Crossing (1982)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- When ZDF showed the film in its German version on 17 June 1985, a Stasi secret police report from Pritzwalk recorded that of 80 citizens who watched it, 76 were enthusiastic, with comments such as that these people and their courage were to be admired and that there were even more ways to leave the GDR illegally.
- Disney executive producer Eva Redfern met the escapees' families in West Germany, and they accepted an offer of $55,000, $50,000 of it contingent on the studio actually deciding to make the film, partly because they had fond memories of watching Disney films through pirated telecasts during their time in East Germany.
- Production built seven different balloons for the film, and after the 1980 actors strike had already pushed the shoot back a month, unexpected snowfall during the final week of filming caused further delays that left the movie a week behind schedule and over its roughly $10 million budget.
- Night Crossing was the final theatrical film directed by Delbert Mann, and it was also the last film in which actress Kay Walsh appeared before retiring.
