<Tr> <Th> Language </Th> <Td> English </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $8 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Night Crossing is a 1982 British - American drama film starring John Hurt, Jane Alexander and Beau Bridges . The film is based on the true story of the Strelzyk and Wetzel families, who on September 16, 1979, attempted escape from East Germany to West Germany in a homemade hot air balloon, during the days of the Inner German border - era, when emigration to West Germany was strictly prohibited by the East German government . It was the final film directed by Delbert Mann . </P> <P> The film opens with a brief summary of 1961's then - current conditions in East Germany and nature of the border zone, featuring stock footage such as Conrad Schumann's jump over barbed wire in Berlin . </P>

Escape from germany in a hot air balloon