Maria Morzeck oder Das Kaninchen bin ich

East Berlin, early 1960s: When her brother Dieter is sentenced to four years in prison for treason, Maria is shocked and helpless. Then she meets Paul. The two become a couple - and Maria's suspicion is confirmed: Paul was the judge responsible for her brother's conviction. Manfred Bieler tells the story from the perspective of twenty-year-old Maria, depicting her inner conflict between loyalty to her brother and love for the system-loyal Paul. It is a literary exploration of the GDR's criminal justice system - and at the same time, a wonderfully refreshing, witty, and moving story about love in a totalitarian state. The DEFA film "Das Kaninchen bin ich," based on a screenplay by Manfred Bieler, became famous in the GDR in 1965 because it was immediately banned. Four years later, the novel was published in West Germany.