The Film

This film is based on three aspects of the story. The social changes that are woven into every part of this car, the fascination people have with the Trabi today, and on its incredible production history.

The social aspects are inseparable from this story and evident throughout the film. A strong theme in this story is the thirty-year separation and reunification of East and West. But even today The Wall still exists in many minds. The Trabi has become a bridge of acceptance, insight, humour, and information. This film will support and reflect these aspects of a reunited Europe.

The people associated with rallies and gatherings certainly add colour and texture to the film. Between 20,000 and 35,000 people are expected to attend June 21st to the 23rd, this year at the largest Trabant festival held for three days each year. Merchandising is huge, parts, cars, conversions, poems, songs, and an endless supply of Trabi jokes are part of this culture. The owners are always as colourful and unique as their cars.

On the internet today, Trabi fans can find more than 500 sites for all possible and impossible aspects of Trabi enthusiasm. Parts made in the U.K., news, schedules, pictures, endless chat groups and even manuals in local dialects can be found.

Musicians paying tribute to the car have ranged from the East German Puhdys to the British super group U2. Recently U2 featured the car on their world-wide ”Achtung Baby” tour, prominently displaying Trabis as a source of stage lighting. The Trabi charm has gone world-wide.

The history of the Trabi is presented by those who worked and designed this car. Available to us are their private archives of pictures, films and other materials. Settings for these interviews vary from personal and quiet, to on location. They are shot on film for the depth and natural look it provides to the faces of those who have lived the story.