The Lives of Others A Screenplay

Nothing is private. Nothing is sacred.



In 1984 East Berlin, the Stasi Captain Gerd Wiesler is assigned to spy on the playwright Georg Dreyman. Wiesler and his team bug the apartment, set up surveillance equipment in an attic and begin reporting on the activities of Dreyman, who had previously escaped state scrutiny due to his pro-Communist views and international recognition.

One day, however, Wiesler learns the real reason behind the surveillance: the Minister of Culture covets Dreyman's girlfriend, and is trying to eliminate his rival. Though Wiesler continues his surveillance, he struggles to reconcile his sense of professional duty with his personal integrity, as he finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by the couple’s lives.

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is the award-winning director of The Lives of Others and The Tourist. Born in 1973, he grew up in New York City, Brussels, Frankfurt and West Berlin, he studied Russian literature in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) before obtaining an MA in Politics, Philosophy and economics from Oxford and a diploma in film direction from the University of Film and Television in Munich. The Lives of Others won the European Film Award for Best Film and Best Screenplay, the LA Film Critics' Association award, and the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.