THE LEGEND OF RITA (DIE STILLE NACH DEM SCHUß)

Romantically committed to Marxist ideology, Rita and her terrorist comrades are intent on destroying capitalist institutions in West Germany in the early 1970s. Pursued by the police, the gang escapes to Beirut and then Paris. After killing a motorcycle policeman, Rita flees to East Germany, the Communist “haven” she has long praised. Given a new identity, she goes to work in a factory, where she is shocked to discover that the workers in the “workers’ paradise” don’t share her enthusiasm and actually covet the freedom and material goods of the West. It is a rude awakening, exacerbated by the impending reunification of Germany. -- Chale Nafus, Director of Programming, Austin Film Society