Born in Leipzig in 1937 to Jewish parents, Anita G., a former telephone operator, flees the GDR for the West in the 1960s. She finds a job as a nurse, but after receiving a suspended sentence for a theft, she moves to another city. Working as a sales representative for a record company, she forges order forms, lives beyond her means, and becomes her boss’ mistress. However, for the sake of his wife, he breaks off the relationship and reports her to the police. Anita then loses her next job as a chambermaid, tries in vain to enroll in a university course, and has a short-lived affair with a married senior civil servant. Drifting through West Germany, Anita becomes increasingly unable to find her place in postwar society. Based on the short story “Anita G.”, written by the director and published in his first book, “Lebensläufe” (Henry Goverts Verlag, 1962).

Winner of the Silver Lion at the 1966 Venice Film Festival The restoration of the film was undertaken by Kairos-Film and Reitz-Medien under the supervision of Alexander Kluge. The 4K scanning from the original 35mm negative was performed at ARRI Film & TV München.

The screening of “Yesterday Girl” is a tribute to Alexander Kluge, who passed away in March of this year.