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- A true road movie. Set in the 1970-s, in Communist Central Europe. An East German guy with a Dutch girl -- hitchhiking their way, with all sorts of adventures. This movie feels like you're on a holiday yourself.
- Ulla is a sensitive and principled 10th-grader in a small East German town. When Winfried falls in love with her, he adopts her passion for protecting the environment. Ulla tries to stop illegal trout farm and gets her classmates involved.
- Sunny is a singer in a band which is constantly on the road. She therefore leads a relatively restless life, which she cannot afford to give up, having to rely on the fee she gets paid..
- A young teacher in East Berlin struggles with accepting his homosexuality.
- Gregor Hecker, who fled Germany with his parents, returns to Germany as a lieutenant in the Red Army.
- In medieval Germany, poor and witty Till Eulenspiegel fools and cheats citizens, churchmen, and landlords. Although in most cases he uses his wit for personal well-being, he often helps the poor and weak. Eventually, he gains an influential but also dangerous position as royal fool at the court of the emperor.
- As a painter in the court of King Carlos IV, Goya - played by the great Lithuanian actor Donatas Banionis (The Red Tent, Solaris) - has attained wealth and reputation. He believes in King and Church, yet he is also a Spaniard who dearly loves his people. This contradiction presents him with a dilemma. Based on Lion Feuchtwanger's novel, Goya is one of ten East German films originally shot in 70mm. This release is the director's cut and shows the influence of great filmmakers from Buñuel and Saura, to Eisenstein. Goya was nominated for the Golden Prize at the 1971 Moscow International Film Festival.
- In this film, Wolf and scriptwriter Wolfgang Kohlhaase explore the role of art and the artist in socialist society. A sculptor questions the reception and value of his work, in a delicately nuanced narrative interweaving personal memories, historical dilemmas, and political defeats.
- The film is set in the 1930s in Germany. Maria Rheine and Mark Löwenthal, two young actors working in a small theater, are in love with each other. Their love affair is interrupted by Nazi racial policies; Mark is no longer allowed to perform in German theaters because he is a Jew. In order to continue acting, he joins the newly formed Jewish Theater in Berlin. Maria, who is not Jewish, faces no restrictions on her career, and she becomes a successful actress at a big theater in Munich. But her love for Mark eventually leads her to decide to sacrifice both career and security to remain close to him. She fakes a suicide, assumes a Jewish identity and, as Manja Löwenthal, joins the Jewish Theater
- Ten-year-old Ernst wants to go on a bike ride with his father Alfons, but his mother decides that they should all go to Seifertsgrün together for their golden wedding anniversary. Finally, she is persuaded to let the two of them ride their bikes if they promise to arrive on time. Ernst and Alfons set off - from Mecklenburg to the Erzgebirge. It is a journey with many obstacles and adventurous experiences, because Alfons intervenes wherever help is needed. Among other things, he saves a skydiver's bride who has landed in a tree in her wedding dress. The agreed time draws ever closer, and father and son are still a long way from Seifertsgrün. But they too get help and land at the banquet table in an airplane.
- Two teens, Sauly and Mick, both want to reach the ocean, and then they were approached by a man who told Sauly he had sold his guardian angel. The boys do not really believe in guardian angels or is it possible they are such things?
- The architect Daniel Brenner is in his late thirties when he receives his first challenging and lucrative commission: to design a cultural center for a satellite town in East-Berlin. He accepts the offer under the condition that he gets to choose who he works with. This way, he reunites with former colleagues and friends - most of them architects or students of architecture who have since chosen a different profession due to personal restraint or economic confinement. Together, they develop a concept which they hope will be more appealing to the public than the conventional and dull constructions common to the German Democratic Republic. However, their ambitious plans are once and again foiled by their conservative supervisors. As frustration grows, Daniel has trouble keeping his career in balance with his family-life: his wife Wanda wants to leave for West-Germany.
- Berlin opera director Andrei Vishnevsky decides to put on a production of Don Giovanni. Vishnezsky wants to rethink conventions and innovative a new performance of this piece, but he encounters resistance in his provincial town, especially concerning the interpretation of the titular role. The production is further complicated by personal drama: Vera, the female vocalist playing Donna Anna, is in love with the married Vishnezky, who is also taken with Beate, the singer of the Donna Elvira role. The backstage drama unfolds as the actors and director prepare for the premiere.
- Scenes from an East German marriage. A young couple, Sonya and Jens, are very much in love; they get married and have a child. When Sonya wants to go back to work after her maternity leave, they clash for the first time; Jens insists that she remain a full-time wife and mother. Until Death Do Us Part turns an actual police report into a gripping drama, as the director explores the depths of his characters' emotions, driving the conflict to a catastrophic climax.
- Susanne is a young single mother who lives a somewhat "carefree" lifestyle. After quitting her job, she finds herself in trouble financially and attempts a minor insurance fraud to make ends meet. Despite its rare view of everyday socialism from a woman's perspective, East German officials were critical of this frank portrayal of a less-than-ideal socialist citizen and turned down all invitations for the film to be screened abroad. In West Germany, however, Evelyn Schmidt's film received much praise for its critical feminist approach. The Bicycle was part of the 2005 Rebels with a Cause: The Cinema of East Germany retrospective, shown at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
- Frühjahr 1945 in einem kleinen Ort an der Ostsee. Am Strand finden der 15-jährige Günter (Gert Krause-Melzer) und ein gleichaltriger russischer Fremdarbeiter (Viktor Perewalow) einen toten Soldaten. Wenig später hetzen Günter, der immer noch an den Endsieg glaubt, und eine Schar Jugendlicher den entflohenen jungen Russen durch den Wald. Während Günter ihn stellt und ihm zuredet sich zu ergeben, erschießt der Dorfpolizist (Hans Hardt-Hardtloff) den Russen. Stolz nimmt Günter das Eiserne Kreuz entgegen und meldet sich freiwillig zum Fronteinsatz, obwohl sein Vater (Rolf Ludwig) schon im Krieg gefallen ist. Weder seine Freundin Christine (Dorothea Meissner) noch seine Mutter (Lissy Tempelhof) können ihn davon abbringen. Gleich beim ersten Einsatz wird er von einer sowjetischen Militärstreife aufgegriffen. Doch als ihr Jeep auf eine Mine fährt, überlebt Günter als einziger und flieht nach Hause. Er versteckt sich im Haus von Christines Eltern, kehrt aber zu seiner Mutter zurück, als sich Christines Vater (Norbert Christian) aus Angst vor den herannahenden russischen Truppen das Leben nimmt. Kurz nachdem die Sowjetarmee den Ort besetzt hat, wird Günter wegen Mordes an dem Fremdarbeiter verhaftet. Heiner Carows Film erzählt die letzten Tage des Zweiten Weltkriegs aus der Perspektive eines Hitlerjungen. Der Film erhielt 1968 keine staatliche Zulassung, stellt er doch keinen antifaschistischen Helden, sondern einen Mitläufer als Opfer in den Mittelpunkt und verwischt damit provokativ die Grenzen zwischen Schuld und Unschuld. Erst zwanzig Jahre später konnten die Filmemacher "Die Russen kommen" in einem aufwändigen Rekonstruktionsprozess aus den wenigen noch erhaltenen Teilen des Originalnegativs und Positivfragmenten wieder zusammenfügen. In einer erneuten Restaurierung ab 2014 fanden Experten der DEFA-Stiftung in der Arbeitskopie zahlreiche bisher nicht entdeckte Fragmente, mit denen sie den Film noch einmal völlig neu zusammensetzten.
- Based on the novel by Thomas Mann. Charlotte Kestner, the love of Goethe's youth, became famous because she was the real-life Lotte represented in his renowned The Sorrows of Young Werther. At age 44 she travels to Weimar to see Goethe again, and high society's posturing and Goethe's personal history lead her to an unexpected conclusion. Dramaturge (later Studio Director) Walter Janka was befriended by the Thomas Mann family, making this adaptation possible.
- Inge Herold is in her mid-thirties. She is divorced and lives with her 15-year-old son. She works as a psychologist and social worker and is involved with a married man. Suddenly, Inge finds out she may have breast cancer, which would mean an operation the very next day. The 24 hours before the planned surgery puts her under enormous psychological pressure and she begins to reevaluate her life. With heightened awareness of matters of everyday life, she realizes that what she previously considered meaningful, was actually void of any real meaning. Her relationship with the married man is particularly on her mind. By questioning much of what has been important to her up to now, Inge achieves a high level of sincerity with herself. She finds a faithful confidant in her son who provides much needed sympathy and understanding. Although the anxiety remains, Inge Herold finds the strength to face her illness with a strong will to live and to make consistent decisions in her life. Shot exclusively on location using lay actors. Christine Schorn of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin plays the leading role, delivering a sincere, understated and powerful performance.
- Rebellious young Werther is passionately, but hopelessly, in love with Lotte. Although he knows that she is married to somebody who can offer her a secure future, Werther tries to be near her. Lotte cannot decide between these two men. She eventually rejects Werther, who does not survive her decision. Based on the novel by Goethe. Director Egon Günther and set designer Helga Schütz make cameo appearances.
- Maya is over thirty, full of life and holds a very practical worldview, until she suddenly risks "cascading backwards." Accompanied by her nearly adult daughter, she leaves her quiet cottage in a leafy suburb at the risk of being isolated from her community. She plunges into the pulsing life of the big city and goes job-hunting, which has her encounter many different people. She moves into a big apartment complex, where she meets people in extremely diverse living situations. On account of her residence and her daughter's new friends, Maya is acquainted with new forms of life, which she unhesitatingly confronts. Unfortunately, finding personal satisfaction in a new relationship she starts proves to be quite difficult. The affection of her lover, Tony the composer, turns out to be short-lived. Only time will tell if Gerd, Maya's boss and secret admirer, will turn out to be the great love of her life.
- Ten-year-old Frantisek is traveling to Leipzig to visit his German friend Egon. On the train, he shares the compartment with three men. One of them, the bearded, hefty Blasius is polite but at times acts very confused. At the end station the two boys meet, but they must first of all get rid of Blasius, who lifts them up together with their luggage and carries them away. Leipzig is packed with tourists who have gathered for the famous Fair. The eccentric bearded fellow deals effectively with the traffic jam in front of the station. Blasius's fellow travelers from the train - inventors Prantl and Pirwitz, are at the fairground, boasting of their new invention and claiming it to be the greatest surprise of the entire Fair.
- In a small town, everyone has tried to forget what happened shortly after WWII. That is, until a stranger finds a book that Jadup (Kurt Böwe) gave to the young refugee Boel (Katrin Knappe), who resettled in the town over 30 years ago. Painful memories about Boel and the post-war period begin to surface and shake up the whole town. Boel vanished back then and nobody knew why. Word spread about a rape and some tried to blame a Russian soldier. Jadup, the town's respected and popular mayor, remembers, though, how he mistrusted Boel and did not help her through this difficult time; HE didn't even notice THAT Boel loved him. Jadup's confrontation with the past gives him a new, critical view of his current situation and surroundings. Originally censored and later banned by GDR officials for being too controversial, Jadup and Boel was not released until 1988.
- Vienna, 1813-1819: Beethoven (Donatas Banionis) is at the peak of his fame. Orchestras all over the world play his music, but he lives modestly and is dependent upon private patrons. Nagged by his patronizing brothers, spied upon by officials for his republican beliefs and faced by his progressive hearing loss, the composer becomes more and more isolated.
- Edith and Wolfgang have been leading a harmonious family life in relative prosperity for many years - with a new apartment and a Trabant. They have had a son for five years. Edith has long since gotten over Wolfgang's infidelity twelve years ago, from whom there is a daughter. Every now and then he visits 12-year-old Sandra, merely fulfilling his fatherly duties. But suddenly the girl is at the door. The mother died in an accident. Sandra is accepted into the family and Edith learns that Wolfgang has led a double life over the years and that his relationship with Sandra's mother never ended.
- At the beginning of the 50s, two extremely disparate men meet in a private sanatorium for consumptives: an officer in the People's Police, Josef Heiliger; and a young Protestant curate, Hubertus Koschenz. On account of their consumption, they have to share a room. Initially, this is the only thing they have in common.