Balloon (2018 film)

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Balloon (German: Ballon) is a 2018 German thriller drama film directed by Michael Herbig. The film depicts the crossing of the Inner German border by the Strelzyk and Wetzel families from the GDR to West Germany with a self-made hot-air balloon in 1979. The two families, including four children, successfully floated across the sky from Pößneck, Thuringia to Naila, Bavaria, then situated 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of the Iron Curtain. They reached a height of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) in the homemade balloon. Before making the film, Herbig was allowed to inspect the thousands of pages thick file about the balloon flight belonging to the Stasi, the former secret service of the GDR. However, the film is generally seen as a thrilling action film and, according to some reviewers, lacks historical depth. Another film about the successful escape was released by Disney in 1982, during the Cold War, under the title Night Crossing.

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