"Are we in the West now?"

Behind the simple film title "Balloon" hides the daring story of two families who venture to escape from the GDR to the West: On the 16 September 1979 Peter Strelzyk and Guenther Wetzel lift off with their families in a self-constructed hot air balloon in Thuringia direction Bavaria.

Ballonfahrer Günter Wetzel Source: K.Loesche

The award-winning film by Michael Bully Herbig is the opening film of the German Film Festival in Australia. After Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, the German community in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane can now look forward to this drama next week.

About 40 years after the spectacular escape, Professor Michael Rosemann - the German honorary consul in Brisbane - meets Guenter Wetzel Germany. Guenter Wetzel sewed the 28 meter high and 20 meter wide balloon hidden from the eyes of the Stasi. What he thinks today about the sensational escape from the GDR, he tells Michael Rosemann in an interview. Katharina Loesche reports for SBS.

Familie Wetzel vor der Flucht Source: K.Loesche

Günter Wetzel (l) mit Honorarkonsul Professor Michael Rosemann Source: K.Loesche