Haus und Hof (‘House and Farm’)

Isolde Sperling, 28, lives in Hennickendorf in the Luckenwalde district with her husband Jürgen, a musician, and their young son. A trained agronomist, she manages a collective farm and is also responsible for soil improvement in district. Yet her work often runs counter to ecological principles – just one example of the paradoxes and everyday hardships of life under East German socialism that Isolde clearly struggles with.
Volker Koepp’s Haus und Hof (‘House and Farm’), produced by the DEFA Studio for Documentary Films, offers a portrait of a confident young woman caught between personal conviction and political reality. It follows her daily balancing act as she strives to stay true to herself and bring about change, despite the odds stacked against her.