Unser kurzes Leben

The DEFA production UNSER KURZES LEBEN stages the construction of industrial housing estates in the GDR in a visually powerful way that is akin to documentary at times, showing the shells of prefabs, scaffolding and huge cranes. The film is told from the perspective of the young architect Franziska Linkerhand (the protagonist of Brigitte Reimann's eponymous novel), who gives up her position in the team of a renowned Dresden architect to start anew in the provinces and combines personal and national history with architecture. When she tries to impose her high standards for socially-oriented urban development, she comes into conflict with the municipal architect Schafheutlin.