00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:09.679
A face haunts West Germany

00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:11.720
at the end of the 1970s.

00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:16.000
A gaze alerts an entire country.

00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:18.239
Its youth is adrift.

00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:22.399
Christiane F.
lives in West Berlin,

00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:24.079
at that time
surrounded by the wall.

00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:25.679
THE LIFE OF A GIRL
RUINED BY HEROIN

00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:28.239
She is 13, takes drugs and
prostitutes herself

00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:29.960
to pay for heroin.

00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:31.960
WE CHILDREN FROM ZOO STATION

00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:34.679
Each week, the magazine Stern

00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:36.960
publishes an account of her
day-to-day life.

00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:41.039
One year later, an autobiography

00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:43.280
appears based on these accounts.

00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:47.240
It rockets to the top of
the sales charts,

00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:49.560
is translated into 18 languages

00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.039
and is never out of publication.

00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.880
The shock wave is immediate.

00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:58.880
Drug addicts will never be seen
again in the same way.

00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:04.400
The book and its cinema
adaptation

00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:07.000
made this young girl of 15

00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.079
the most famous junkie in
West Germany.

00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:13.400
A "shoot" has become a word
everyone knows,

00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:15.680
just like "heroin".

00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:17.799
A bestseller and the Bible

00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.480
of an entire generation of
adolescents.

00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.000
Now, the person we call a junkie

00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:28.280
is a middle class young girl who
lives in a tower block,

00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:31.079
goes to secondary school and
prostitutes herself

00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:32.319
to pay for drugs.

00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:35.760
It's an example of what not to do.

00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:38.079
It's an example which fascinates.

00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.159
You've become a symbol. Does
that weigh heavily on you?

00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:44.239
Yes, it's extremely dangerous

00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:46.959
for other people
to think of me as a symbol,

00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:49.079
while I'm still looking

00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.000
for my own symbol to look to.

00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.599
ZOO STATION:
THE STORY OF CHRISTIANE F.

00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:03.680
A LOST GENERATION

00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:17.280
I wander around this underground
station like a star among stars.

00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:20.039
I see old ladies weighed down
by plastic bags

00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:21.520
from the big shops.

00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:24.080
Sickened, terrified,

00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:25.840
they're really scared

00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:28.800
and I tell myself,
"We, the druggies,

00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:30.400
we've got it much better".

00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:33.439
Life is hard here. You can die
from one day to the next

00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:35.479
and we won't make old bones anyway,

00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:38.080
but we've chosen this life.

00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:40.479
I like it anyway.

00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.319
I think about all the money
I'm earning.

00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:45.439
I need a hundred marks a day

00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:47.080
just for dope.

00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:52.719
I had noticed that suddenly

00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:55.520
young people were hanging around

00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:57.439
in the squares in the town centre.

00:02:57.759 --> 00:02:59.800
They weren't there before

00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:03.000
and looked like tramps.

00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.039
They didn't seem able to
function in society any more

00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:09.199
and that made me curious.

00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:14.919
Drugs were a taboo subject
at the time.

00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:16.680
It didn't suit and didn't correspond

00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:19.199
with the bourgeois image
of what youth should be like.

00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:22.360
The editor of Stern found it

00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:26.599
really repugnant
because German youth was different.

00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:29.159
I was quite simply
fascinated by this girl.

00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:34.919
I found it all fascinating.

00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:41.120
What was I thinking? I don't know.

00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:43.800
I was only 15 at the time,

00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:47.280
and that's six years ago now.
I can't really explain it.

00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:50.159
I think I simply wanted...

00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.199
I didn't have a
therapeutic framework,

00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:55.680
no one to help me,

00:03:55.879 --> 00:03:58.199
no one to talk to.

00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.159
You had to get all that out.

00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:03.280
Exactly. It all had to come out.

00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:11.680
When I read the book
for the first time,

00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:13.599
it literally cast a spell over me.

00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:17.240
It's one of those books
that, once you've started,

00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:18.680
you can't put it down.

00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.839
I think this story also
lifted the veil

00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:25.680
on a phenomenon
which already existed.

00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:27.600
which already existed. You felt

00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:33.040
something was brewing,
something was being concocted.

00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:38.040
All these young people were making
a real culture linked with drugs.

00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:46.160
At the time, when I used
to go out a lot,

00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.600
there was still, at the same place,

00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.800
what we used to call
"the little girls' pavement".

00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.800
There were prostitutes

00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:00.920
behind the zoo.

00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:04.319
There were also quite
a few young men

00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:08.160
making a quick buck.

00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:12.800
All that had been around
for a long time.

00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:17.439
I'm dead scared.

00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:20.079
I think about
Babsy and Stella's advice.

00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:22.079
Avoid young blokes in sports cars

00:05:22.279 --> 00:05:25.000
or big American cars:
it might be a pimp.

00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.680
Old men in ties
and a beer belly are OK,

00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:30.240
especially if they've got a hat,

00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:32.560
but the best are the ones

00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:35.600
driving around with a
child seat in the back,

00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:37.480
decent family men

00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:39.600
just looking out for a bit of
a change.

00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:41.959
And they're even more scared
than we are.

00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:47.480
For me,

00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.560
it's a story about adolescence
and its problems.

00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:55.279
She experiences what
all adolescents go through,

00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:58.240
but with her,
it ends in an extreme...

00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:00.360
in an extreme way.

00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:04.319
And that's what I found
so engaging in this story,

00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:06.199
not describing someone who
takes drugs

00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:09.319
like an extraterrestrial
from another world,

00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:12.680
but showing them as they are,
just like you or I.

00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:19.439
Many young girls
had quickly fallen

00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:22.519
into taking heroin at that time

00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:25.160
and they needed money

00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:27.759
to finance all that.

00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:31.519
There were only two
or three ways to get some.

00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:33.839
It was either

00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:36.560
through theft, muggings,

00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:38.560
by becoming a pickpocket

00:06:38.759 --> 00:06:41.439
or turning to prostitution.

00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:44.120
And this concerned both
girls and boys.

00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.000
There was a special place
for the girls,

00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:49.560
the so-called "baby pavement"

00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:51.040
on the Kurfürstenstraße

00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:54.160
because there were many young,

00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:56.240
female heroin consumers.

00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:00.519
- How old are you?
- 14.

00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:03.079
And how long have
you been injecting?

00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:04.680
A year and a half.

00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:06.560
How many times in one day?

00:07:06.759 --> 00:07:08.360
For 100 marks.

00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:09.519
Where's the money from?

00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:12.240
From the streets.
I'm on the streets.

00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:13.800
How did you get there?

00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:16.360
I'd gone out to a disco

00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:20.160
and I met some people there.

00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:23.240
It started with hashish,
then medication.

00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:25.800
I got bored with tablets,
so I sniffed some heroin

00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:28.720
and then I started to inject.

00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:32.199
This is Babette, Babsi.

00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:34.959
I knew her from there too.

00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:38.240
There were a lot of people her age

00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:39.680
who worked

00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:41.879
as prostitutes every day, really,

00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:44.920
sex workers

00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:47.160
who had

00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:49.519
police officers, judges
and barristers as clients.

00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:53.120
Yes, with these very young girls.

00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:57.800
She was Christiane's
best friend.

00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.240
"The stepdaughter
of a famous pianist

00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:04.439
is, at the age of 14, the youngest
heroin victim in Berlin".

00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:06.399
And we see here the photo

00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:08.360
and its caption.

00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:11.759
I find that very astonishing,

00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:14.920
almost more than the other things
we find in the book.

00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:17.399
I also find this photo of

00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:21.399
the town of Gropiusstadt incredible.

00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:25.720
Yes, it's a fascinating photo.

00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:28.759
Gropiusstadt was

00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:31.519
a very attractive area

00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:34.039
owing to all its new buildings

00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:36.399
and big complexes.

00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:39.840
The old buildings were frowned
upon and it was there

00:08:40.039 --> 00:08:42.360
that our parents' generation
dreamed of setting up home.

00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:51.000
The new town is growing slowly,

00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:53.240
but harmoniously.

00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:55.600
It sits well in the landscape.

00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:58.360
It's face can almost be seen.

00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:07.080
The inhabitants feel at home.

00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:09.759
They've all been seduced
by Gropiusstadt,

00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:11.480
their new home,

00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:14.360
which sometimes looks
like a cute little village.

00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:18.320
Even the most modern facades
look really welcoming.

00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:23.759
It was really well described
in the book "Christiane F".

00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:25.440
There were no trees,

00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.440
not even a bush.
It was a concrete desert.

00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:30.360
nowhere to meet up,

00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:33.480
No social infrastructure,

00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.720
no youth centre
or children's playgrounds.

00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:41.559
"In Gropiusstadt

00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.159
you automatically learn to
go against the rules.

00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:48.120
In addition, almost everything

00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:50.279
is prohibited,
especially having fun.

00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:53.000
The town is riddled with notices.

00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:55.320
The so-called parks separating
the tower blocks

00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:57.320
are like forests of signs

00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:00.200
and almost all these signs are to
stop children doing something.

00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:03.720
In Gropiusstadt,
everything that's allowed

00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:05.559
is incredibly boring

00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:08.240
and everything that's not allowed
is fun.

00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:12.360
Christiane was one of those
young people

00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:14.080
who felt
that life in this town

00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:17.159
was killing her.

00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:21.399
As they have nowhere
else to go,

00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:23.720
the young people are often
the unwanted guests

00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:27.320
of shopping centres,
car parks and playgrounds

00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:30.200
or stay inadvertently
locked up at home.

00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.360
The only thing
we could do

00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:35.759
was create a meeting place
for these young people.

00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:38.360
We worked with the idea

00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:40.480
that the young people were going

00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:43.440
to organise everything and
administer everything themselves.

00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.679
For them,
the most important thing

00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:49.840
was to meet up,
listen to their music and dance

00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:51.559
and through that,
make relationships.

00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:53.480
There are at least 150
young people

00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:55.600
who meet at the
"pulse sauna", as they call it.

00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:02.080
What do you think of the
places for young people?

00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:05.600
We don't have any places for us.

00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:08.039
Young people don't really
know where to go.

00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:10.039
They hang around in the squares

00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.480
and some adults get annoyed
at seeing them there all the time.

00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.240
They told us

00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:22.960
that they used cannabis

00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.960
and other drugs too.

00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:29.159
They tried everything
that made them

00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.440
feel "out of it"
as they said themselves.

00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:35.039
Things that made life sweeter,
changed their perception.

00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:39.159
They tried all that. After a time,
the heroin started.

00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:42.039
There were around
thirty or forty boys and girls

00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.279
out of a total of four or five
hundred youngsters

00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:49.120
who used heroin quite regularly.

00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:53.080
It was a way
of overcoming the

00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:57.559
sadness they had to live with

00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:00.519
and that's when
the big problems began.

00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:02.480
How can you get out
of Gropiusstadt?

00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:04.399
How can you put up with lessons

00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:07.519
where all the students
are talking and messing about?

00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:09.320
You can't understand anything
in class,

00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:11.759
so you start doing it too.

00:12:12.440 --> 00:12:15.440
At lunchtime, I used to go home,
put down my bag

00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:19.519
and then I slammed the door
to go to the underground.

00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:23.120
On the way to school too

00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:26.639
I used to hang around
the corridors of the underground.

00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:37.279
At Sound, drugs were aplenty.

00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:40.320
I take everything: valium and
ephedrine

00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.759
and mandrakes.
I smoke loads of joints

00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:47.000
and at least twice a week
I go on a trip.

00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:50.399
We swallow handfuls of stimulants
and barbiturates.

00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:52.360
You can choose your mood.

00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:56.440
Sound was a world of its own.

00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:58.840
You had to be there. There
it was Pink Floyd,

00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:01.720
Ummagumma, psychedelic

00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:04.440
music, lots of things

00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:05.720
not made for dancing,

00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:09.360
but anyway, with drugs
you even dance to the news.

00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.879
That was Sound!

00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.120
It was like you were floating.

00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:23.320
You were hovering.

00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:26.320
It wasn't a matter of being "high",

00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:28.240
but having the feeling of
being alive.

00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:31.159
When you were there, you'd
glide far away

00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:34.279
from all that rubbish
and the demands of your parents,

00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:36.200
from the police and all that.

00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.759
You floated away from all that.

00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.600
I can't think of Saturday evenings
without Sound.

00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.559
It's better than ever and also

00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:48.480
the people I've met -

00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:50.799
they're my idols now.

00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:54.480
She wanted to form a family,
to be in a group

00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:57.759
with the feeling of being safe.

00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:00.919
Everyone knows that feeling,

00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.360
even if we've never smoked
a single cigarette.

00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:06.879
She felt all this pain
and emptiness

00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:09.919
and above all had this desire
for friends

00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:11.799
and it was with this group

00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:14.720
that heroin came on the scene

00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:16.720
and that's what was
decisive for her.

00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:24.080
I take my dose of powder.

00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:26.720
It's bitter and irritating.

00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:28.600
At first, that's all I feel.

00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.480
I quell the desire to vomit and
spit out some of it.

00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:37.159
And then it comes very quickly.

00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:38.559
My arms and legs are heavy,

00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:41.840
heavy, heavy, and yet at the
same time incredibly light.

00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:47.679
I'm dreadfully tired

00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:49.679
and it's great

00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:53.200
and all my problems have flown away
in one go.

00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.679
I've never felt so good.

00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:24.960
She was very clear on the fact

00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:27.519
that spending her childhood
in West Germany,

00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:29.639
in Berlin, could be crap.

00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:34.799
At the beginning, for her, it was
essential to be able to escape

00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.279
from all this grey reality.

00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:41.279
She had a huge desire for a
different, more beautiful life.

00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:11.080
I feel like I'm in a tin can

00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.840
that someone's stirring with a
giant spoon.

00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.480
The noise this underground track
makes is frightful,

00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:21.960
insufferable. The passengers are
all wearing horrible masks,

00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:24.960
in other words, they've all got the
usual faces,

00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:27.600
it's just that I can
see them better,

00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:31.240
I realise better how ugly they
are, these bourgeois people.

00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:33.960
They have to go home from
their stinking work.

00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:37.840
Then you watch the telly, go to
bed and start all over again.

00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:41.840
She took tablets

00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:45.240
and is clairvoyant about
these people.

00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.039
I didn't use the

00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.799
underground much,

00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:54.679
but when I did,

00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.519
it was with my canary.
I told myself, "OK,

00:16:57.840 --> 00:16:59.960
there are people looking at my
parents and me

00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:02.480
when we were sitting in
the underground

00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:04.680
and they looked at us
completely differently.

00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:09.119
I think the book's strength

00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:11.960
is the great amount of anger
Christiane allows herself

00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.799
against this society
and against her world.

00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:18.319
And that really impressed
me at the time.

00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:20.200
"Is it possible to let your anger

00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.960
out like that?"
That's what she did.

00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:26.119
I wanted Christiane
as my best friend.

00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:29.440
I wanted to be part of that group.

00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:32.400
I think these kids in Zoo Station

00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:34.559
were the forerunners

00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:36.519
of the No Future movement
in Germany.

00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:38.480
The book was

00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:40.759
published in 1978

00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:42.720
and then No Future appeared.

00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:45.160
When I was a punk, just
before the 1980s, it started.

00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:46.759
The book was really

00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.039
a spearhead of this punk movement.

00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:53.039
This feeling that you could
simply

00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:55.839
say "shit" to our parents,

00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:58.480
that's what we learned with
this book.

00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:02.200
You can leave everything and
be independent.

00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:04.759
Yes, all that provoked a
bit of rebellion.

00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:15.799
We can add that Christiane's
generation,

00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.400
in other words my generation,

00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.160
we were children of parents

00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:22.680
who had experienced the war.

00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:26.359
Our parents' generation had been,

00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:28.240
I think, well,

00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:29.720
silent about some experiences.

00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:35.319
Most had been through awful things

00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:38.839
during the war.
They had been traumatised.

00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:41.039
and had never been able to
work on it.

00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:45.079
And all this trauma was
passed down the family

00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:47.119
from generation to generation.

00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:49.599
We couldn't talk about it
with our parents

00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:52.799
and they didn't want to talk to
us about it,

00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.359
so we were alone

00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:57.240
with all this shit in us.

00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:04.920
This war generation

00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.559
suffered from the lack of
discipline and order.

00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:11.880
Their view of the world

00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:14.119
had completely fallen apart.

00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.640
Nothing worked for them any more.

00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:22.920
That meant that

00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:26.200
we wanted to be free from

00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:27.599
this authoritarianism

00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:29.799
and silence.

00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:34.319
And that led us to

00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:36.039
rebel from it all,

00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.480
particularly with alcohol and

00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:42.400
other drugs - cannabis, heroin -

00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:44.079
cool, yeah?

00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:46.279
All that was very

00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:49.039
political and was a real

00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:51.440
uprising against our parents.

00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:57.599
A revolt against the silence of
mothers and fathers,

00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:00.200
against this persistent parental
amnesia

00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:03.400
mostly brought up on national
socialism.

00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:05.960
The air is basically poisoned

00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:08.240
by what's not said
as well as repression.

00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:10.720
It was the beginning of the 1970s,

00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:12.279
a bleak, grey time.

00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:15.119
Christiane's childhood.

00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:18.880
In the 1970s, the climate
was cold and hostile,

00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:22.000
an end-of-the-world atmosphere.

00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:24.200
Part of my youth had
been stolen away.

00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:26.279
It was the German Autumn

00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:28.039
and it was a terrible time.

00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.799
Christiane F. went through
this sombre history

00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:37.480
of West Germany from the end

00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:39.960
of the 1970s and the 1980s.

00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:43.599
There was a strongly
dystopian atmosphere.

00:20:43.799 --> 00:20:46.680
Many wake-up ideas,
ideas of renewal

00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:50.319
initiated after 1968,
had been reversed.

00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:53.119
The atmosphere was one of giving up,

00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.480
with the feeling of being hemmed-in.

00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:02.920
It was impossible to say
that this is shit,

00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:05.440
that it's not OK.
You had to keep up appearances.

00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:08.519
It was the kid from the Kinder ad,

00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.160
the housewife,

00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:12.519
who succeeded in

00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:15.079
everything in life, and so on.

00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:18.240
You had no choice then.
Everything had to be

00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:21.799
crowned with success. Everyone
looked very healthy and very clean,

00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:23.920
but obviously, that wasn't the case.

00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:31.880
There was an economic fallout
with the oil crisis.

00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:34.279
The political context

00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.200
was very complicated
and security-wise,

00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:38.880
we had leftist terrorism.

00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:41.000
I can't see a difference

00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.079
between the police terror

00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:46.359
we've already experienced in Berlin
and which weighs heavily on us

00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:48.759
and the Nazi terror
of the 1930s.

00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:52.559
Ulrike Meinhof was a member
of the Red Army Faction.

00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:54.440
From the end of the 1960s,

00:21:54.759 --> 00:21:56.759
this group kept up an armed fight

00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:58.759
to reform society and the state.

00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:01.680
The Red Army Faction
carried out multiple

00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:03.839
attacks, hostage-takings
and assassinations

00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:06.160
including that of Hanns
Martin Schleyer,

00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:09.640
head of the German bosses union
and a former Nazi dignitary.

00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:15.240
Many people think
the terrorists are great.

00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:17.960
Some have even tried to get
into a terrorist group

00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:19.759
before getting stoned.

00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:23.559
At the time of Schleyer's
kidnapping, I was tempted too,

00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:26.519
but I hate violence.

00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:30.240
I told myself, though, that these
people in the Bader gang

00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:32.960
were perhaps making the right
analysis of the situation,

00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:37.160
that you could only change this
rotten society through violence.

00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:42.640
In response to the terrorism
of the Red Army Faction,

00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:44.079
the German government

00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:47.160
gave in
to a truly repressive frenzy.

00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:49.240
In a climate of uncertainty,

00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.319
the Army and police were deployed
on country roads,

00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.400
on motorways and
in front of stations.

00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.200
The whole country was mapped
to a grid

00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:01.440
in order to search out any
terrorist sympathisers.

00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:03.200
The manhunt was omnipresent.

00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:06.119
The government imposed the principle

00:23:06.440 --> 00:23:08.880
of professional disqualification:

00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:11.000
every civil servant suspected of
having links

00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:14.680
to extreme leftist movements
had to resign.

00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:17.160
Unfortunately, thinking too much

00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:19.559
and having your own opinion

00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:21.839
can be dangerous in our state,

00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:24.440
especially when you want
to become a civil servant.

00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:28.240
We're living in a climate
of servile obedience and conformism.

00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:34.319
My childhood was characterised

00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:37.759
by a very particular aesthetic:

00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:40.599
in all the public buildings,
post offices

00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:42.240
and even high schools,

00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:45.440
this wanted notice for
terrorists was stuck up.

00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:49.519
You could clearly see their photos

00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:52.279
crudely printed
in black and white.

00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:55.440
These photos reproduced here

00:23:55.960 --> 00:23:58.759
are quite interesting, the photos

00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.400
that are in the book of..

00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:02.880
of...

00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:05.440
of Christiane's friends,

00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:07.480
some of them
dead from drug-taking.

00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:09.519
The aesthetic and visual language

00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:11.759
are very similar
to the terrorist photos.

00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:14.480
I had the impression that...

00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:17.799
society...

00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:22.279
was afraid of these people.

00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:24.920
It was worried
about them too,

00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:28.559
but they radiated menace,
above all.

00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:34.400
In autumn,
when the book was published,

00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:37.160
we were allowed to watch

00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:40.279
TV at home.
We watched the arrival

00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:42.400
in Germany of the hostages

00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:44.599
from Mogadishu.

00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:48.640
At the time, the Red Army
Faction terrorists

00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:50.720
hijacked a plane so that
imprisoned members

00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:54.480
of the group would be released.

00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:58.720
Several hours after the liberation
of the hostages in Mogadishu,

00:24:58.920 --> 00:25:02.119
Andreas Baader and Jan-Carl Raspe
shot themselves

00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:04.680
and Gudrun Ensslin
hanged herself in her cell.

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:07.160
For the moment, the autopsy report

00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.799
indicates that no third party
was involved.

00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:13.240
Something in the air said:

00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.519
this terrorism

00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:18.920
that's been occupying
us for 10 years has been beaten,

00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:23.160
in spite of all these deaths,

00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:26.079
and a new song can be heard:

00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:29.000
"Now, this is how it's going to be;

00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:31.960
now, here come the drugs!"

00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:35.599
So, the fear of terrorism

00:25:35.799 --> 00:25:38.400
and the fear that our children
might become terrorists

00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:41.720
has been seamlessly replaced

00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:45.200
by this West German story:
our children are not at risk

00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:47.680
of becoming terrorists,

00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:49.440
but they may well
become drug addicts.

00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:06.319
Our generation was a generation

00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:09.160
which didn't shout as loud,

00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:12.640
but was quite closed in
on itself,

00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:17.039
with its little groups.

00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:21.920
For me, we were rather
a lost generation.

00:26:24.119 --> 00:26:26.240
We were rather introverted.

00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:28.400
It comes from the
action of injecting yourself,

00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:30.200
of having a fix; it's an act

00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:32.759
of self-harm, of silent resistance.

00:26:34.599 --> 00:26:37.400
That's the most cynical thing
in this story:

00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:39.920
they were only noticed

00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:41.359
when they were dead.

00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:48.240
And the politicians reacted.

00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:51.359
They said, "These young people
are excluding themselves.

00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:54.200
They are refusing the system.
We can't let them do that,

00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:56.240
so we have to make laws".

00:26:56.519 --> 00:26:58.240
They patrolled the stations,

00:26:58.400 --> 00:26:59.880
well-known bars

00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:03.119
and areas for prostitution
more and more.

00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:05.559
It was the anti-drugs operation
of the Drugs Brigade

00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:08.799
here on patrol at
Kurfürstenstrasse station.

00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:10.480
The police estimate the number

00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:12.960
of drug addicts at around 5,000.

00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:16.680
For the first time,

00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:19.759
special police units
were created

00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:23.119
and crimes were recorded
in the criminal code.

00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:26.359
Then, from 1980 to 1981,

00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:29.359
there was the second law
on drugs.

00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:31.480
It was very strict.

00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:35.119
Any contact with drugs
was prohibited and

00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:37.960
considered a criminal offence,
no matter where and how

00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:41.200
it was committed.
Penalties were strengthened.

00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:43.839
Through this law, the state created

00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:46.559
a huge mass of delinquents
who needed to be managed.

00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:50.839
We already have our sachet of
dope in our pocket

00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:52.599
and we still have loads
of money left.

00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:55.519
I can see the police in civvies
on the underground platform.

00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:58.240
A round-up. A train pulls in.

00:27:58.759 --> 00:28:00.799
Panicked, I start to run.

00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:03.240
I feel like an outlaw in a Western

00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:06.039
and I'm going to be hung
on the first tree that comes along.

00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:09.720
I squeeze myself against Detlev.
One of the policemen says,

00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:12.599
"No need to play Romeo and Juliet.
Let's go!"

00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:16.160
He takes us away to the police
station in a minibus.

00:28:22.119 --> 00:28:24.880
So the prisons were
filled with drug addicts

00:28:25.079 --> 00:28:28.079
and the police have been
carrying out a vain war

00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:30.559
against drugs up until now.

00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:32.559
The problem is still not resolved.

00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:41.559
"Christiane F."

00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:44.279
is a powerful book
because it has

00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:45.920
made people look again

00:28:46.119 --> 00:28:47.880
at heroin addicts
and the world of drugs.

00:28:49.079 --> 00:28:52.720
The classical image of the time
of heroin consumers

00:28:52.920 --> 00:28:54.680
was above all male.
The junkies were men

00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.400
who looked unhealthy and ill.

00:28:57.720 --> 00:28:59.279
Christiane F. appeared

00:28:59.480 --> 00:29:02.160
like the face of this world,
a pretty, tough,

00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:04.440
intelligent young girl.

00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:06.400
That brought a lot of empathy.

00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:09.680
The idea of criminalising
drugs and their users

00:29:09.880 --> 00:29:12.680
became very difficult to accept.
The book offered

00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:14.960
another view of drug users.

00:29:15.160 --> 00:29:17.599
They didn't necessarily
come from the counterculture,

00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:19.440
opposition movements

00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:23.440
or student protests;
they were children,

00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:26.599
very normal children
from the suburbs.

00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:29.319
Because the message was clear:

00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:32.920
it could be our kids too!

00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:37.599
In Berlin, parents created

00:29:37.799 --> 00:29:40.039
a support group.

00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:44.240
They shared their experience

00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:46.279
and tried to help each other.

00:29:47.640 --> 00:29:49.279
I did everything to make him stop,

00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:51.799
I tried to cover it up,
but that was perhaps wrong.

00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:53.960
I wouldn't do that now.

00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:57.720
I did everything to make him stop,
so that he'd come off it himself

00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:01.039
and I thought he'd be able to.

00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:03.559
Living with a drug addict
is terrible.

00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:06.039
Women who live
with an alcoholic

00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:07.680
know this, as it's just as bad

00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:10.119
living with an alcoholic.

00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:13.880
Same thing with a drug addict:
it's horrible.

00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:16.640
There have been altercations
at home.

00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:20.119
I almost jumped off the balcony,
I felt so worn out!

00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:23.680
It destroys you.
Thankfully, we're a couple,

00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:27.759
but there are a lot
of single mothers

00:30:27.960 --> 00:30:29.519
bringing up children

00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:32.200
who are addicted to drugs.
It's even worse for them.

00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:34.480
There's no structure to help them.

00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:37.359
And then there are all
the questions

00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:39.880
asked in the newspapers:

00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:43.759
What's happening?

00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:46.559
Why has nothing been
put in place?

00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:49.960
What can we do with these
young girls

00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:53.839
who are just children
and yet

00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:58.559
have experienced things

00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:01.720
that many adults have
never experienced

00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:04.079
their whole lives?

00:31:04.279 --> 00:31:06.680
And where are the answers?

00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:08.960
And where can they go?

00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:13.039
My mother understands that
she can't help me.

00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:15.319
She never stops telephoning
left and right.

00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:19.160
Social Services here, anti-drug
centres there,

00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:22.480
and looks more and more desperate
because she realises that no one

00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:24.920
wants to or can help either
her or me.

00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:28.039
In fact, there's as yet no treatment
for children.

00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:35.920
Most parents turned to psychiatry,

00:31:36.119 --> 00:31:39.319
but the psychiatric hospitals
were completely powerless.

00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:42.359
For them, drug addicts
were abnormal people

00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:45.279
with a lifestyle
they didn't understand.

00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:55.000
Treatment hospitals,

00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:56.480
like Synanon, for example,

00:31:56.680 --> 00:32:00.880
had a very strict authoritarian
approach

00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:03.359
at the time, in other words,

00:32:03.559 --> 00:32:06.039
the destruction
of the addictive personality

00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:09.319
like a phoenix
rising from its ashes

00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:12.839
with its new, addiction-free
personality.

00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:16.359
That was their idea there.

00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:19.880
And they kept this hard
line for a long time

00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:22.319
and stayed with it right
to the end.

00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:24.599
According to them, it was

00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:27.279
"Once an addict, always an addict",
so you stayed

00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:29.559
in that community your whole life.

00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:32.319
But,

00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:34.880
in the 1970s and 80s

00:32:35.079 --> 00:32:36.960
it was like a sect:

00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:39.599
No sugar, no coffee,
no tea,

00:32:40.119 --> 00:32:42.359
nothing which might create
dependence.

00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:45.960
We weren't allowed to do anything

00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:48.839
but work
and eat what was allowed

00:32:49.160 --> 00:32:51.759
so that the addictive personality
might be destroyed.

00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:55.000
I'm not very reassured.
They say

00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:57.759
this treatment is very hard.

00:32:57.960 --> 00:32:59.480
It's worse than prison.

00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:01.799
At Synanon,
they shave your head.

00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:03.799
According to them,
it's symbolic of

00:33:04.119 --> 00:33:06.000
beginning a new life.

00:33:06.839 --> 00:33:09.759
I couldn't walk around
looking like Kojak.

00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:13.960
I'm very attached to my hair.
I can hide my face behind it.

00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:17.000
If they cut it all off,
you might just as well kill me now!

00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:22.559
I think the taboo
around dependence

00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:24.759
dissipated thanks to the book.

00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:27.440
Before, no one talked about
alcohol dependence either.

00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:30.920
The book pushed

00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:34.880
lots of people to talk openly.

00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:36.680
We need help

00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:38.920
for these families

00:33:39.240 --> 00:33:42.680
and young people.
We don't want a whole generation

00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:44.839
to become drug addicts.

00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:47.079
And then, the state
began to set up

00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:49.640
a whole system of aid.

00:33:51.319 --> 00:33:53.359
A first report on drug use
was presented

00:33:53.559 --> 00:33:56.720
in the Chamber of Deputies.

00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:00.079
Then it was decided
to create a special post,

00:34:00.279 --> 00:34:02.720
a drugs commissioner who,

00:34:02.920 --> 00:34:06.640
at the time, was still under the
banner of the Youth Ministry

00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:09.079
because, yes, at the time
they still thought

00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:12.719
that it was a young person's
problem.

00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:15.239
A society is only human

00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:18.039
if it takes the weakest
members into account.

00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:20.960
Our society is going to have
to face an increase

00:34:21.159 --> 00:34:23.320
in its weakest members

00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:25.480
and this will be more and
more costly for us.

00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:29.519
And then, there was a lot of
pressure on politicians.

00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:32.719
That allowed fundraising and
the creation of

00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:35.920
help for care, like advice centres

00:34:36.119 --> 00:34:39.639
for drug addition and some types

00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:41.400
of therapeutic flat shares.

00:34:42.199 --> 00:34:44.920
No one knew that West Germany,

00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:46.760
including West Berlin,

00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:48.800
had 100,000 drug addicts

00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:51.880
for only 1,200
treatment placements.

00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:55.559
And the basis for taking in
drug users

00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:59.239
and the aid system

00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:01.480
was created at that time.

00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:06.400
Someone else has come in
to take a shot in the loos.

00:35:06.599 --> 00:35:08.119
A completely vacant bloke

00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:10.480
in the last stages of decay.

00:35:11.079 --> 00:35:14.719
I ask him to lend me his stuff.
He says OK,

00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:16.559
but all of a sudden,

00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:19.480
I'm dreadfully repulsed at sticking
this needle into my vein.

00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:34.840
- Hi.
- You OK?

00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:36.880
What can we help you with?

00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:39.159
What do you need?

00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:42.800
10 of each.
10 syringes, 10 water doses.

00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:45.400
10 little needles.
Everything in 10s.

00:35:45.559 --> 00:35:47.920
- Everything in 10s.
- That's right.

00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:50.960
- Is that enough?
-Yes.

00:35:51.880 --> 00:35:53.400
There you are, 10.

00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:56.199
10 plasters?

00:35:57.079 --> 00:35:59.280
- No need for plasters.
- OK.

00:36:01.400 --> 00:36:03.079
Don't you want to
go for treatment?

00:36:03.400 --> 00:36:07.159
Treatment is only if
you don't take drugs,

00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:09.440
if I'm clean.
I first have to testify

00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:11.960
at least three months of withdrawal

00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:14.199
to benefit from treatment.

00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:16.360
I find that completely stupid

00:36:16.679 --> 00:36:18.440
because it's worse and worse.

00:36:18.639 --> 00:36:20.679
I can't do it alone;

00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:22.159
I need help.

00:36:24.599 --> 00:36:27.079
Can we do anything else
for you?

00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:29.079
No, it's OK.

00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:32.599
I could be better,
but it depends on the day.

00:36:32.800 --> 00:36:33.800
OK.

00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:36.840
Have a good day.

00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:38.199
- You too.
- Thanks.

00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:39.880
Bye!

00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:43.920
For us, there's no
obligation of abstinence.

00:36:44.119 --> 00:36:46.599
Everyone comes as they are.

00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:50.000
We try above all to build

00:36:50.199 --> 00:36:52.880
a listening relationship.

00:36:53.079 --> 00:36:55.360
It's a safe place for them

00:36:55.559 --> 00:36:57.719
where they can be themselves

00:36:57.920 --> 00:36:59.440
and that's a lot already.

00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:03.480
I think that drug addicts
are now seen as people

00:37:03.679 --> 00:37:05.800
and not as rubbish because

00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:09.079
the word "junkie" just means
rubbish you throw away.

00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:12.159
We don't say "junkie"
any more now,

00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:15.239
but "a person who uses drugs".

00:37:17.159 --> 00:37:20.199
The book "Christiane F."
was on everyone's lips

00:37:21.199 --> 00:37:22.559
at the time.

00:37:22.760 --> 00:37:25.519
Everyone was talking about it
and thanks to the book,

00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:28.400
drug addicts got a voice

00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:31.119
which described the situation

00:37:32.039 --> 00:37:33.639
as it was.

00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:36.880
As it really was.

00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:46.039
Every day, I look at
myself in the mirror.

00:37:46.239 --> 00:37:49.599
I can see a strange,
ravaged face there.

00:37:50.119 --> 00:37:51.840
This face doesn't belong to me,

00:37:52.360 --> 00:37:54.519
no more than this
skeletal body.

00:37:55.119 --> 00:37:57.280
I can't even feel
that any more.

00:37:57.800 --> 00:38:00.280
In the end, heroin has
made me insensitive

00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:02.559
to pain and even fever.

00:38:03.079 --> 00:38:05.559
It only wakes up
when it's facing withdrawal.

00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:08.719
Standing in front of the mirror,

00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:11.199
I get my fix ready.

00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:33.039
Detlev

00:38:34.360 --> 00:38:36.480
is Christiane's boyfriend
in the book.

00:38:36.679 --> 00:38:39.559
It's also the role I played

00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:42.960
when I was a teenager. I was 15.

00:38:44.320 --> 00:38:45.000
Where did you get
all this money?

00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:49.000
How did you get all that?

00:38:49.320 --> 00:38:50.960
This is a scene

00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:53.639
played out on the stairs

00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:56.199
at Sound, downstairs,

00:38:56.519 --> 00:39:00.079
but that picture

00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:02.920
goes with this one.

00:39:03.559 --> 00:39:06.599
This other reality

00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:09.360
she encountered there.

00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:17.719
All that
is because of dope...

00:39:25.400 --> 00:39:26.840
but we'll get there.

00:39:27.920 --> 00:39:29.880
One of these days, we'll get there.

00:39:30.199 --> 00:39:33.440
Christiane's story,

00:39:34.039 --> 00:39:37.159
the book, then later the film,

00:39:37.360 --> 00:39:40.760
has been used in schools

00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:43.280
for lessons

00:39:43.480 --> 00:39:46.840
in preventing addiction.

00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:51.440
People had to be scared
for it to be dissuasive:

00:39:51.639 --> 00:39:54.360
"Look how far destruction can go".

00:39:59.079 --> 00:40:01.039
In the end, Christiane F. is

00:40:01.239 --> 00:40:02.199
semi-fictional

00:40:02.400 --> 00:40:06.000
goosebumps

00:40:06.199 --> 00:40:09.199
for the middle class
who were shocked by this book

00:40:09.400 --> 00:40:13.000
and learned one thing:

00:40:13.320 --> 00:40:16.360
it's impossible to allow
our children to do that.

00:40:16.559 --> 00:40:19.239
And of course, teachers
were interested in it too.

00:40:19.440 --> 00:40:22.239
Before, children were fed
by the teachers,

00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:24.320
by reading
Grimm's fairy tales

00:40:24.519 --> 00:40:28.079
or scary novels - and here's
a really scary book!

00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:34.480
We talked about the biological
effects with the biology teacher.

00:40:34.679 --> 00:40:38.079
We've talked about it in
economic sciences too.

00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:41.360
We've talked about the
sociological effects.

00:40:41.559 --> 00:40:45.159
How we got here. We're
always on about Christiane F.

00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:48.159
We've dwelt on the book
for a whole term and the treatment.

00:40:48.360 --> 00:40:51.239
The various types of treatment,

00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:55.800
and what future
former drug addicts have.

00:40:56.320 --> 00:40:58.800
We've studied Christiane F.
in German lessons too.

00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:00.639
Owing to this, we're
up to here with it.

00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:04.039
Adults don't react
like young people.

00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:06.400
Their perception is different

00:41:06.920 --> 00:41:09.880
and the conclusions they draw too.

00:41:10.880 --> 00:41:13.280
Teachers didn't imagine

00:41:13.480 --> 00:41:16.800
that the book would be
so fascinating for young people.

00:41:17.320 --> 00:41:21.239
So they thought,
"Let's talk about it in class".

00:41:21.559 --> 00:41:25.440
The problem is that they used
it as an anti-drug book.

00:41:25.639 --> 00:41:28.280
"Look what can happen".

00:41:28.480 --> 00:41:31.440
And what really happened was that

00:41:31.639 --> 00:41:34.400
classes and school bus-loads

00:41:34.599 --> 00:41:35.760
landed en masse in Berlin.

00:41:35.960 --> 00:41:39.239
They wanted to experience
what Christiane had experienced.

00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:43.920
What are you doing at
the Zoo station?

00:41:44.119 --> 00:41:46.920
We've come to see the people.

00:41:47.119 --> 00:41:48.920
The punks and all that.

00:41:49.239 --> 00:41:50.360
What have you come to see?

00:41:50.559 --> 00:41:52.679
We've heard so much about it.

00:41:53.199 --> 00:41:55.440
Seeing as we were in Berlin,
we've come to see.

00:41:55.760 --> 00:41:58.360
What's so interesting for you?

00:41:58.559 --> 00:42:01.280
Christiane F., the book?

00:42:01.480 --> 00:42:02.639
Yes.

00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:05.320
How do you find the atmosphere?

00:42:05.519 --> 00:42:06.320
Good.

00:42:06.519 --> 00:42:07.760
Oppressive.

00:42:07.960 --> 00:42:10.719
Yes, the atmosphere.
Everything you see here.

00:42:11.239 --> 00:42:14.760
That's how young people
found out about drugs and

00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:18.719
Sound. Without the book,

00:42:18.920 --> 00:42:21.519
Sound would almost have
gone bankrupt.

00:42:21.719 --> 00:42:23.920
The book provoked

00:42:24.119 --> 00:42:27.239
an enormous influx.
It was like a pilgrimage.

00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:36.239
I don't know
if Christiane will believe me,

00:42:36.440 --> 00:42:38.760
but she generates
a lot of empathy.

00:42:38.960 --> 00:42:40.480
That's very strong in the book.

00:42:40.679 --> 00:42:42.960
How do I generate empathy?

00:42:43.159 --> 00:42:45.920
The whole journey, from when
you started to take dope.

00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:49.440
The book recounts well

00:42:49.639 --> 00:42:51.559
all the stages one after the other.

00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:55.039
The thing is
that with this book

00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:59.400
I've overwhelmed you
with all these problems.

00:42:59.599 --> 00:43:02.079
That must have been difficult

00:43:02.280 --> 00:43:05.480
for normal people like you
to understand how

00:43:05.679 --> 00:43:07.840
someone can inject
this stuff into your veins.

00:43:08.039 --> 00:43:10.880
Actually,
we understand it very well.

00:43:11.079 --> 00:43:12.119
Good then.

00:43:13.679 --> 00:43:16.159
I read the book in one night,

00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:19.320
under the covers with a torch.

00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:22.599
I was immediately
completed captivated.

00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:27.440
The link with her was so strong:
I felt who she was,

00:43:27.760 --> 00:43:29.519
who this woman was.

00:43:29.719 --> 00:43:32.679
that it led me
to have the same life

00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:34.280
as her.

00:43:34.960 --> 00:43:38.079
"Spring is here
and the weather's getting warmer.

00:43:38.280 --> 00:43:40.400
I'm still happy; the first lovely
days of the year.

00:43:40.599 --> 00:43:43.280
But I'm dragging a load
of problems around all the time,

00:43:43.480 --> 00:43:47.199
without even knowing what they are".

00:44:01.079 --> 00:44:03.039
"When I sniff,
the problems fly away,

00:44:03.239 --> 00:44:05.480
but it's a long time now

00:44:05.679 --> 00:44:08.599
since a sniff lasted me a week.

00:44:08.920 --> 00:44:11.360
I'm celebrating my 14th birthday
this May".

00:44:11.559 --> 00:44:13.360
For me, she seems
in the book

00:44:14.159 --> 00:44:15.920
to not be a victim at all.

00:44:19.280 --> 00:44:22.199
So, the whole time
I want to encourage her

00:44:22.519 --> 00:44:26.000
and to tell her,

00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:28.239
"Go on, you'll make it!"

00:44:29.440 --> 00:44:32.039
At Zoo Station in the ladies' loos

00:44:33.679 --> 00:44:36.559
At Zoo Station in the ladies' loos

00:44:36.760 --> 00:44:38.960
I must be starving

00:44:40.159 --> 00:44:41.480
Beautiful child

00:44:42.199 --> 00:44:45.480
Your brown hair is magnificent

00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:48.320
The suppleness of your arms

00:44:48.840 --> 00:44:50.000
makes me crazy

00:44:50.679 --> 00:44:54.280
Beautiful child, tell me quick
Who are you?

00:44:54.599 --> 00:44:58.199
Beautiful child, tell me quick
Who are you?

00:44:59.519 --> 00:45:01.280
Your high-heeled boots

00:45:01.480 --> 00:45:04.440
Your torn fishnet stockings

00:45:04.639 --> 00:45:07.880
Your mini-skirt like a shopping bag

00:45:08.079 --> 00:45:11.320
The character of Christiane F.,

00:45:11.639 --> 00:45:13.519
rather than the real person
Christiane F.,

00:45:13.719 --> 00:45:17.239
saw her life transformed
through the appearance

00:45:17.440 --> 00:45:18.960
of the book.

00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:23.719
It's interesting to see,
from the book's release to now,

00:45:23.920 --> 00:45:26.639
that there's a great fascination
with Christiane.

00:45:26.960 --> 00:45:28.519
Here's the kid from Zoo Station,

00:45:28.719 --> 00:45:30.119
the one, but not the only,

00:45:30.320 --> 00:45:31.760
here's Christiane F.

00:45:44.519 --> 00:45:48.119
Will you have the chance to
escape your past one day?

00:45:48.719 --> 00:45:51.800
What's certain
is that it will depend on me.

00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:55.039
In six years, have you been able
to reintegrate into society?

00:45:56.159 --> 00:45:57.280
Ask my neighbours.

00:45:57.480 --> 00:45:58.960
They're better informed?

00:45:59.159 --> 00:46:00.079
Perhaps.

00:46:01.400 --> 00:46:05.360
Can you ever say
that you've really stopped?

00:46:05.559 --> 00:46:06.159
Of course,

00:46:06.480 --> 00:46:07.960
yes, of course.

00:46:08.159 --> 00:46:11.000
You were saying
that you wanted to get married.

00:46:11.199 --> 00:46:14.039
Do you want to have children too?

00:46:14.360 --> 00:46:15.800
You have a son now.

00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:18.519
Could it be said that
it's the best way

00:46:18.719 --> 00:46:21.719
to fight addiction,

00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:24.159
being responsible for someone else?

00:46:24.360 --> 00:46:25.280
No, not at all.

00:46:25.960 --> 00:46:27.599
What are the effects of heroin

00:46:27.800 --> 00:46:30.480
when you start using it again
after four years' abstinence?

00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:33.159
After such a long period
of being clean.

00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:35.079
It's just...

00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:38.039
a bit disappointing.
Like a sleeping pill.

00:46:38.960 --> 00:46:41.639
The same effect as a sleeping pill.

00:46:43.960 --> 00:46:47.119
Always the same question.
"Is she clean now?"

00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:49.880
"No, she's gone back".

00:46:50.079 --> 00:46:52.199
"She's clean".
"She's not clean".

00:46:52.400 --> 00:46:54.719
"If she's not clean,
we're going to really tell her off,

00:46:54.920 --> 00:46:57.880
but if she's good,
we'll be nice".

00:46:58.599 --> 00:47:01.800
As a human being,
how can you,

00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:05.320
after having experienced
all this story...

00:47:05.519 --> 00:47:07.599
How can you come out of it
being, very suddenly,

00:47:08.280 --> 00:47:10.880
the face of

00:47:11.079 --> 00:47:13.199
a crisis in society too?

00:47:13.719 --> 00:47:16.280
I think that must have been

00:47:17.360 --> 00:47:19.360
very, very difficult.

00:47:21.159 --> 00:47:24.960
Wouldn't it have been better to put
her to bed with a hot water bottle?

00:47:31.199 --> 00:47:32.440
There has always been

00:47:32.639 --> 00:47:35.119
a fascination for stories

00:47:35.320 --> 00:47:38.280
where young women are destroyed,

00:47:38.480 --> 00:47:40.519
stories in which

00:47:40.719 --> 00:47:43.800
they destroy themselves. It's
fascinating for many people,

00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:47.679
at a time like now.
She has become an icon,

00:47:49.480 --> 00:47:51.159
even beyond our borders,

00:47:52.360 --> 00:47:54.719
rather like a fictional character
or a cult character.

00:48:12.320 --> 00:48:13.760
We've been influenced

00:48:14.079 --> 00:48:17.360
by this aesthetic, of course.
The pale,

00:48:17.559 --> 00:48:21.480
broken look, the lines, the spiky
hair and it's also

00:48:21.679 --> 00:48:25.400
a fascination
for the fact of losing oneself.

00:48:25.599 --> 00:48:26.960
In the book, you can feel

00:48:27.159 --> 00:48:29.679
how she's fallen
and rushed head down

00:48:29.880 --> 00:48:31.320
without thinking.

00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:41.239
Hold hands.

00:48:42.639 --> 00:48:46.280
And this fascination can still
be seen in Berlin today.

00:48:46.480 --> 00:48:48.760
It's too much sometimes,
too excessive,

00:48:49.079 --> 00:48:52.239
staying up for three days,

00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:55.519
not sleeping, just
partying non-stop.

00:48:55.719 --> 00:48:58.360
"I don't stop.
I don't think about tomorrow

00:48:58.559 --> 00:49:00.760
and if I fall apart,
I just fall apart".

00:49:00.960 --> 00:49:03.440
It's a feeling of danger.

00:49:05.039 --> 00:49:08.440
The whole book
deals with exploitation.

00:49:08.639 --> 00:49:11.039
It's so revealing
that at the end, what remains,

00:49:11.239 --> 00:49:14.920
is still
a story of exploitation,

00:49:15.119 --> 00:49:16.760
the exploitation

00:49:16.960 --> 00:49:19.800
of this aesthetic

00:49:20.320 --> 00:49:21.920
melted into the background

00:49:22.119 --> 00:49:24.480
by the lives of real people,
real experiences

00:49:25.079 --> 00:49:27.440
and also an underground culture

00:49:27.639 --> 00:49:29.119
which was lively and rich before.

00:49:29.440 --> 00:49:31.599
I would really like to use this book

00:49:31.800 --> 00:49:34.159
and discuss it
with my own children.

00:49:35.199 --> 00:49:37.280
Not only about drugs,

00:49:37.480 --> 00:49:40.360
but also about the themes

00:49:40.559 --> 00:49:43.679
which preoccupy us all our lives.

00:49:43.880 --> 00:49:46.000
In this book,

00:49:46.199 --> 00:49:48.400
it talks about exploitation,

00:49:49.920 --> 00:49:52.719
power structures in society.

00:49:56.079 --> 00:49:58.760
Still today,
I'm living on the royalties

00:49:58.960 --> 00:50:00.639
from the book,
but I can't get away

00:50:00.840 --> 00:50:03.559
from this negative image.

00:50:03.760 --> 00:50:06.039
I've never been at peace since.

00:50:08.679 --> 00:50:10.920
I've never been left alone.

00:50:11.119 --> 00:50:13.800
There are always people
interested in me

00:50:14.320 --> 00:50:16.920
who never leave me alone

00:50:17.119 --> 00:50:19.280
and stop me

00:50:19.800 --> 00:50:22.239
living my life.

00:50:23.480 --> 00:50:26.280
I prefer not
to talk about it any more.

00:50:32.719 --> 00:50:34.559
We are absolutely alone,

00:50:35.639 --> 00:50:38.800
separated from the outside world
by steep, white walls.

00:50:40.519 --> 00:50:42.239
No sound can get through to us.

00:50:42.760 --> 00:50:45.880
We hear no sound other than
that of the waterfalls.

00:50:53.239 --> 00:50:54.519
We will build huts,

00:50:55.320 --> 00:50:57.800
we'll plant a huge garden,

00:50:58.000 --> 00:50:59.679
we'll raise farm animals,

00:50:59.880 --> 00:51:03.760
and we'll blow up the only road
leading to the surface.

00:51:05.079 --> 00:51:06.519
In any case,

00:51:07.280 --> 00:51:09.880
we have no desire to go back
up there.

00:52:02.760 --> 00:52:04.840
Translation: Lucy Gay