GETAWAY KING, THE

The 1980s are slowly coming to an end. Despite the cocky promises and reassurances, the Soviet Union is clearly in decline. Yet for most people the future without it is still quite unthinkable, and not many are prepared for the emotional, social and political chaos that will engulf the post-Soviet republics in the 1990s. The matter is deadly serious, however, young Johannes has more important things on his mind. The boy was born prematurely by a woman not ready to be a mother, and his father’s identity is unknown. He lives in Leningrad 3, a closed city of hushed-down radioactive mining, and then moves to the city of Tallinn, a place that gradually matures into its future independence. Johannes tries to be hopeful, yet he soon realises that the kind of freedom he and his compatriots have achieved brings more bitterness than sweetness, and that some things will have to stay buried in the past. The boy experiences his initial friendships and romantic relationships in a world of first encounters with the exotic bananas and Western technology. And he tries to have fun while he is at it.

The year is 1945. Hans miraculously survived the concentration camp and did not lose his joy of living, yet the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany decide that they cannot tolerate him and his kind. Hans is a homosexual and the infamous paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code, that also existed during the Third Reich, states that gay people should be jailed for the perverse crime of who they are. As a result, for more than 20 years Hans is being imprisoned again and again. While serving his time he meets Viktor, a homophobe who was sentenced for murder. With every new sentencing, his relationship with Viktor is radically changing, from initial hostility to a real connection. After nearly a quarter of a century of regaining and losing his freedom the Republic’s authorities ease up on the disgraceful paragraph and decide to treat homosexuals… well, as people, with some rights at least... Will Hans be able to survive in this new reality in which, at least theoretically, he should not need to continually watch his back?

It is the beginning of the 1980s. Life is peaceful and predictable in a small multicultural village located on the Syrian and Turkish border. Neighbours quarrel, obviously, but that does not mean they do not respect one another. While the surrounding world is becoming increasingly radical, the village’s inhabitants try to exist in harmony above the arbitrary religious dogmas and harsh ideologies. It is quite difficult, as one might expect, but not impossible, especially for the children, naïve and lively with imaginations that are the best possible defence from the waves of nationalism and viciously toxic patriarchy. For why does a six-year-old need to know who, or what, those “evil Zionists” are, and how the “wicked imperialists” conspire against their people and race? Are they some kind of outlandish monsters with sharp claws? How could they be defeated? In the end, the fact that there is a call for arms to destroy Jews does not mean that we cannot play cops and robbers with them. The truth is the kids will eventually grow up and let themselves be swept by the adults’ ideas of the world, but for now they are doing just fine.

New York in the 1920s, times of the Prohibition, ever-changing economic and social roles of women, and the increasingly disastrous abyss of class disparity. Irene lives in Harlem and seems to have everything a woman of her stature needs: wonderful children, understanding husband, something to live for with her activism in the local community. She does not feel comfortable near white people, as she believes they treat her as someone inferior. Irene tries to live like that was never a problem until she accidently bumps into her childhood friend, Clare. The woman not only has disassociated herself from the black community but who also, for many years, through modern trickery and dying her hair blond, poses as a white woman and lives in Chicago with her racist husband who is never to know her true identity. The meeting is shocking for Irene, but as she observes Clare’s vivacity, she begins to wonder if she herself would not be fuller and happier if she managed to live such a complicated lie.