STARBUCK – Holger Meins
A film from Gerd Conradt

The interview partners

Michael Ballhaus was born in Berlin in 1935. He served an apprenticeship as a photographer and cameraman for television. He lectured on cameras at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin in 1968. As a film cameraman, he has cooperated with Peter Lilienthal, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Martin Scorsese, Wolfgang Petersen and others.

Manfred Blessmann was born in Hamburg in 1941. He commenced studying at the University for Fine Arts there in 1962 and started a friendship with Holger Meins. He switched to Berlin in 1964, and was a master pupil of Peter Janssen. He has been working as an artist and lecturer in Berlin since 1973.

Suzanne Beyeler was born in Zurich (Switzerland) in 1948. She studied Film Studies at the city’s School for Applied Arts. In 1969, she made a film about the playgroup movement Educated to be Subjects. Between 1972 and 1980, she studied at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. She then worked making documentary films. In 1989, she converted to Islam and joined the Nakshibandia Order. She has been living back in Switzerland since 1997.

Gretchen Dutschke-Klotz was born in Chicago (USA) in 1942. She studied Theology and married Rudi Dutschke (german left-wing leader) in 1966. In 1996, she published a biography about her husband.

Enzio Edschmid was born in Innsbruck (Austria) in 1941. He studied at the School for Applied Arts from 1962, and then at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin from 1966 onwards. In 1972 he founded the group “Work and Film.” He has been working as a freelance author, director and sound mixer since 1977.

Harun Farocki was born in 1944, growing up in Indonesia and West Germany. From 1966 onwards he studied at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. He shot political agitation and educational films, and was an author and editor for the magazine Filmkritik from 1974 until 1984. He is now a documentary film editor, author and producer of international standing.

Thomas Giefer was born on the island of Reichenau in 1944. He studied Journalism and Literature in Berlin from 1964, and was then at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin from 1967. He helped in founding “Rosta Cinema” in 1968. He has been working as a freelance author, director and producer since 1974, primarily with political and socially critical documentaries.

Alfred Klaus was born in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad in Russia) in 1919. In 1939, he volunteered for the German navy (radio operator). From 1953 onwards he worked at the Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and from 1970 he was responsible for reports, analyses and prognoses about “terrorism”. In 1971, he visited relatives of the first Red Army Faction generation, earning him the nickname “the family copper.” Alfred Klaus now lives in Hamburg as a retired First Criminal Commissioner.

Rainer Langhans was born in Berlin in 1941. In 160/61 he volunteered for the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr. Between 1962 and 1969, he studied Law and Psychology at the Free University in Berlin. He was a member of the SDS and moved into Commune 1 in 1967. In 1968, he started a friendship with Uschi Obermaier. He moved to Munich in 1969. Since 1993, he has being living together with several women in a form of “harem experiment.” He is now an actor, author and filmmaker.

Peter Lilienthal was born in Berlin in 1929. In 1939, he emigrated to Uruguay. In 1956, he started studying at the School of Arts (HdK) in Berlin. Between 1959 and 1964, he worked as an assistant and director with Südwestfunk (the state broadcasting company in south west Germany) and worked with Michael Ballhaus. From 1967 to 1968, he was a lecturer at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. In 1971 he was co-founder of the Authors’ Film Publishers. From 1985 until 1996, he directed the Film & Media Art section of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of the Arts. He is a film director of international repute.

Wolfgang Petersen was born in Emden in 1941. He was assistant producer at the Ernst Deutsch Theatre in Hamburg between 1960 and 1964. He then studied Drama Theory in Hamburg from 1964 and 1966. From 1966 to 1970 he was at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. He has worked as a TV drama director (Tatort), and achieved international success in 1982 with The Boat. He has been living and working in the USA since 1991.

Margrit Schiller was born in Bonn in 1948. She studied Psychology in Bonn and Heidelberg. She also worked in an Addict-aid Project in Heidelberg and in the Socialist Patients’ Collective. In the early 1970’s, she was a member of the Red Army Faction. In autumn 1971, she was arrested for the first time. She was imprisoned until 1973, went underground for a short period and was then arrested again. She remained imprisoned until 1979. In 1985, she went into exile in Cuba. Since 1993 she has been living in Uruguay.