Christiane F.

Christiane F. (German: Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo de ; lit. Christiane F. – We Children from Zoo Station) is a 1981 West German biographical drama film directed by Uli Edel and starring Natja Brunckhorst, Thomas Haustein, Jens Kuphal, and Rainer Wölk. It depicts the descent of Christiane Felscherinow, a bored and depressed adolescent in 1970s West Berlin, who becomes a teenaged heroin addict, juvenile delinquent, and prostitute. The screenplay is based on the 1978 non-fiction book Zoo Station: The Story of Christiane F., transcribed and edited from tape recordings by Kai Hermann and Horst Rieck. Released in 1981, Christiane F. was a box-office success in its native country of West Germany, becoming the country's highest-grossing film post-World War II, and was also a commercial success internationally. It was subject to censorship in the United Kingdom, where the British Board of Film Censors mandated that twelve seconds of footage showing intravenous heroin injection be excised. The film developed a cult following, and features David Bowie as both composer and appearing as himself during a concert sequence.