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A young woman defies the social conventions of the time and goes her own way. The historical truth is clearly overshadowed by the great, universal themes of love, hate, jealousy and greed.

This film is the second of a two-part historical and biographical portrait of the communist politician and anti-fascist Ernst Thälmann. Autumn, 1918: Somewhere on Germany’s western front, Ernst Thälmann, age twenty-four, is calling on his fellow soldiers to put down their guns and join him in the communist struggle at home. When Hamburg’s Police Commissioner blocks a much-needed food shipment to the workers of Petrograd, Ernst battles to see it allowed through. Until his murder on August 18, 1944, Ernst remained true to his political convictions in the face of many setbacks.

During the time of the Peasants' Wars, the free knight Götz von Berlichingen gets into all kinds of private and political entanglements when he defends the Bishop of Bamberg. He is declared an enemy of the empire and ostracized as a robber. Insurgent peasants, of whom he becomes the leader, also betray him by attacking a town against the condition that no violence be used.

Ivan, first tsar of Russia. History will remember him as "the Terrible. Russian people love him for centuries. He liberates Russia from foreign oppressors, demands absolute obedience and loyalty in order to radically modernise Russia? Ivan IV, Grand Duke of Moscow, first Tsar of Russia by the grace of God. A madman? A sadist?

An unflinching look at the rise and fall of one of the most infamous political figures in US history.

The incredible story of Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519), daughter of Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503), deliberately used politically by her powerful family and historically slandered as a poisoner and incestuous femme fatale. But who was the real Lucrezia?

In the wake of World War II, most Germans have been raised with the mistaken belief that the Holocaust had been planned and executed by just a tiny minority of Nazis, namely, the Gestapo and the SS. The sad truth, however, is that Hitler's philosophy of ethnic cleansing, as the Fuhrer so brazenly espoused in his frightening manifesto, "Mein Kampf," had been enthusiastically embraced not only by the entire military but also by most of the civilian population. The long-suppressed proof of their widespread collaboration and participation was unveiled in The Wehrmacht Exhibition, a damning collection of photographs and film footage that toured Deutschland between 1999 and 2004. The show shook the country to its core because it forced folks to face up to the fact that it took much more than a madman and his henchmen to wipe out six million.

Following in the footsteps of two women in search of their origins, this documentary lifts the veil on a little-known page of the post-war era: the adoption, as part of a cross-border program, of thousands of children born during the French occupation of Germany.

Reconstruction of the murder of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg and the following farcical military court procedures.

The true story of a journalist who investigates the backgrounds of the Oktoberfest terror attack of 1980.

A story about of one of the darkest periods in German history, an era in which the belief in occult forces was widespread. In Bamberg, witch hunts were fostered by a greedy and delusional Bishop Prince and reached their peak around 1630. This Bamberg ruler used the witch trials to purge his political enemies and enrich himself with their goods. Almost 1000 innocent men, women and children became his victims. BURNING SOULS deals with the era seen through the eyes of Johanna Wolff, a pharmacist's daughter, and the young physician Cornelius Weinmann. To save the innocent, he and a few courageous men revolt against the Bishop Prince.

A dramatic reconstruction of the July 1944 attempt by German Army Officers to assassinate Hitler with a bomb and end the war before Germany was totally destroyed.

The deportation of 4000 Jews from Budapest to Auschwitz in July 1944, as told by George Tabori, and how the narrator’s mother escaped it, owing to coincidence, courage and some help from where you’d least expect it.

The beautiful account of the powerful drama of love and courage of Austrian Archduke Franz Joseph and Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria. This is a condensed version of the original German language 3-part "Sissi" series.

In this film essay, critic Peter Buchka explores the German cinema of the 1920s, ranging from the disquieting images of Fritz Lang's Metropolis to the castrating sexuality of Marlene Dietrich in Die Blaue Engel. The program provides an introduction to Weimar cinema, with Buchka's essay narrated over the images from film clips of 1920s era German films.

Leonora Carrington, an outstanding figure of surrealism, along with Frida Kahlo, was one of Mexico's most famous painters. As the long-time partner of Max Ernst and close friend of André Breton and Jean Miró, she continually struggles with her visionary imagination, which often triggers serious psychological crises.

From the director of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, this is the Passion embedded in a contemporary story. An anarchist jailed for an attempted assassination is told the Passion story by the prison chaplain.

It was arguably the deadliest conference in human history. The topic: plans to murder 11 million Jews in Europe. The participants were not psychopaths, but educated men from the SS, police, administration and ministries. The invitation to the meeting at Wannsee came from Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reich Security Main Office. The Wehrmacht's campaigns of conquest in Eastern Europe marked the beginning of the systematic murder of Jews in Poland and the Soviet Union. In mid-September 1941, Hitler made the decision to deport all Jews from Germany to the East. Although there had been transports before, Hitler's order represented a further escalation in the murderous decision-making process. Persecution and discrimination had been part of everyday life since 1933. But as a result, the living conditions for the Jews in the Third Reich became even more difficult, among them the Berlin Jew Margot Friedländer, born in 1921, and the Chotzen family.

The life of Alexander von Humboldt up to his attempt to climb the Chimborazo in 1802.

German chancellor Otto von Bismarck promises the dying emperor Wilhelm I. to be loyal to his grandson. But the gap between young Kaiser Wilhelm II. and old Bismarck is rapidly widening. It soon appears that an era is coming to an end.

The life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, during the years leading up to and during the French Revolution in which she was executed.

A native of Sennwald, Anna Göldi arrived in Glarus in 1765. For seventeen years, she worked as a maidservant for Johann Jakob Tschudi, a physician. Tschudi reported her for having put needles in the bread and milk of one of his daughters, apparently through supernatural means. Göldi at first escaped arrest, but the authorities of the Canton of Glarus advertised a reward for her capture in the Zürcher Zeitung on February 9, 1782. Göldi was arrested and under torture, admitted to entering in a pact with the Devil, who had appeared to her as a black dog. She withdrew her confession after the torture ended, but was sentenced on June 18, 1782 to execution by decapitation. The charges were officially of "poisoning" rather than witchcraft, even though the law at the time did not impose the death penalty for non-lethal poisoning.

First part of two of the saga of the troubled Buddenbrook family and their business in mid 19th century Germany.

In 1921, in the Danish town of Egtved, on the Jutland peninsula, was discovered one of the most important Bronze Age burial sites: the tomb of a girl who lived around 1370 BCE. Who was that girl and what was her daily life like?

Napoleon at Saint Helena (German: Napoleon auf Sankt Helena) is a 1929 German silent historical film directed by Lupu Pick and starring Werner Krauss, Hanna Ralph and Albert Bassermann. The film depicts the final years of Napoleon between 1815 and 1821 during his period of exile on the British Atlantic island of Saint Helena following his defeat at Waterloo.

D-Day marks the starting point for the liberation of Western Europe from the grip of the Nazi yoke. On June 6th, 1944, Allied soldiers attack German positions at no less than five sectors of the beach in Normandy. The assault takes place from the sea and is considered the largest amphibious landing operation in history. This event now sees its 80th anniversary. But so close, so authentic, this battle has never been shown before. American and British cameramen are at the scene in landing boats, under fire at the beaches, and during the rescue of wounded soldiers. Their original footage, shot in black-and-white, was extensively restored and colourized for this documentary. The historically unique footage appears in motion picture quality. The war gets colour. And thereby a different impact. We look directly in the faces of those, Americans, Canadians, Britons, and Germans, who are often not older than 20. In “24h D-Day”, they tell about their D-Day, the day they never can forget.

In the first of Hartl's two Mozart biographies, Hans Holt plays the robust and dashing composer who, in keeping with the spirit of the film's time of origin, sets out into the world like a soldier of art after his falling out with the Salzburg authorities. Instead of conquering lands, he conquers the hearts of young ladies, like one of his most famous creations.

This program presents the life and ministry of George Muller, who cared for thousands of orphans in 19th century England. He never asked anyone for money. Instead he prayed, and his children never missed a meal.

The film tells the life story of Louise Otto Peters, who in the middle of the XIX century in Germany for the first time raised a voice of protest against the unfair treatment of women and their labor. She created the first "women's newspaper" in Germany. The daughter of a famous lawyer, Louise could have easily arranged her life by marrying the wealthy Baron Rodern. But she chose a different purpose in life - to fight for equal rights for women. Through her articles and public speeches, she won the authority and respect of ordinary people.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Wim Wenders shot a short film that takes us to the most secret place in Europe at that time: a map room in a school in Reims, France, which served as a war room for the Allies. On May 7, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered there and the world war ended.

No profession, no say, no freedom of expression. Life as a prince consort is not exactly pleasure taxing. No constitution ascribes any function to the husband of a queen. Nowhere does it say what he must or must not do. A life in the shadow of the crown. Can that go well?

Country Dr. Robert Koch is desperate: a tuberculosis epidemic is decimating the children in his district and no one is able to do anything about it. Every fourth child is already sick and the parents must helplessly watch as their young ones die. Now Koch is undertaking to find the cause of the tuberculosis --- something he has already been working on for years --- which has been causing this plague of illness. His work is made more difficult by envy; for example, that of his teacher, who was wounded defending his honor. But his greatest obstacle is the famous Berliner scientist and Reichstag deputy, Privy Councilor Rudolf Virchow: He is extraordinarily skeptical of Koch's theory, that the cause for tuberculosis is a bacteria.

This tragic love story relates ten decisive years in the life of the great Romantic poet Friedrich Hölderlin, played by a young Ulrich Mühe.

In Zurich, conductor Nikolas Harnoncourt realizes his vision of reviving the work of opera pioneer Claudio Monteverdi using historical performance practices, brilliantly staged by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. The Monteverdi cycle brings the composer and his operas back into the public consciousness. In 1978, L’Orfeo is recorded on film.

In autumn of 1921, the AVUS, the ‘Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße’ (The automobile traffic and training road), was inaugurated in the southwest of Berlin with a car race. The two long straights, each ten kilometres long, were connected by two turns: It was a high-speed track which was meant to expedite the development of the automobile in Germany. The Documentary explores the moving story of the first cars-only road in the world.

Four years after a Navy SEAL team killed Osama Bin Laden in a raid on his compound, his correspondence sheds new light on his mindset and final years.

A chronicle of the life and successful career of American actor Jeff Bridges, who for many years was a star reluctant to shine, until the hardworking and discreet actor crossed paths with a character who became a pop culture icon.

A shock wave started as Stalin's daughter Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva fled to the West. During her childhood, she remained at the center of power and was her father's favorite child. However, her life was overshadowed by death and violence. Her mother and brother died, family members were murdered, and her partner was exiled by Stalin. The Iron Curtain was an obstacle in her family dream. This documentary shows for the first time interviews with friends and relatives, exclusive photos and documentation, as well as the last and never broadcast interview with Alliloejeva.

As a nun, Katharina von Bora lives the life destined for her until she comes into contact with a completely new world of thought in the early 20s through the writings of Martin Luther. She flees with some of her co-sisters and comes without legal status, without income and rejected by her family to Wittenberg, where she meets Martin Luther personally. Katharina decides to marry the reformer and, as his wife, becomes a respected housekeeper, an equal interlocutor and the mother of their children together.

The story of the Trotta family during the rise and fall of the Austrian-Hungary empire. Based upon the novel by Joseph Roth.

Re-enactments augment this documentary that chronicles Lincoln's journey from his early years as a rising politician through his presidency, the Civil War and to his untimely death.

In 17th-century Salem, Hester Prynne must wear a scarlet A because she is an adulteress, with a child out of wedlock. For seven years, she has refused to name the father. A vigorous older stranger arrives, recognized by Hester but unknown to others as her missing husband. He poses as Chillingworth, a doctor, watching Hester and searching out the identity of her lover. His eye soon rests on Dimmesdale, a young overwrought pastor. Enmity grows between the two men; Chillingworth applies psychological pressure, and the pastor begins to crack. A ship stops in Salem, and Hester sees it as a providential refuge for her daughter, herself, and her lover. But will Dimmesdale flee with her?

A portrait of the German-language Czech writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924), a mysterious, strange and solitary individual, but also a visionary creator.

This pre-WW II German costume drama chronicles the French Revolution with a particular focus upon Danton, Robespierre, and Marat. It depicts the dramatic downfall and execution of Georges Danton in 1794 at the hands of Maximilien Robespierre. The film also presents an interesting, if not historically inaccurate, portrayal of Louis XVI.

The small swiss village of Mitholz got destroyed in 1947 after an Ammunition depots of the Swiss Army exploded. After decades of secrecy, the population learned in 2018 that the danger had not been averted yet and that the residents need to leave their homes. A story about the abuse of trust and the mistakes of a government whose citizens pay the price for.

A historical drama about the revolution of 1848/1849 in the Austrian empire.

In 2000, as the Hezbollah organization takes over Lebanon, Yossi, a Lebanese soldier, helps his friend Fouad to flee the country in order to avoid punishment, as he’s been working against them for 16 years. Fouad takes refuge in Israel with his daughter, Tanya. A few years later, a new war breaks out in Lebanon, causing tensions at the Israeli border. Yossi’s wife, Myriam, decides to go there and asks for Tanya’s help to look for their soldier son, who hasn’t given sign of life since then. This journey will allow the two women to share their sorrows and heal together.

Thirty years ago, in 1991, the Soviet Union, founded in 1922, disappeared, giving birth to fifteen new states, located between the Baltic Sea and the Pamir mountain range, which went their own way. How many of these republics have succeeded? How much real influence does Moscow exert over them? What role do NATO and the European Union play in this very complicated economic and political maze?

The political advisor to the French emperor Napoleon, and the Austrian emperor Franz I, arrange a marriage between Napoleon and the Austrian archduchess Marie-Luise in order to prevent another war.

As he did with his critically-acclaimed "Blockade," a documentary re-creation of the WWII siege of Leningrad, which received its NY theatrical premiere in March 2007, filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa has once again scoured the Russian film archives for "Revue," selecting excerpts from newsreels, propaganda films, TV shows and feature films that present an evocative portrait of Soviet life during the 1950s and 1960s. With scenes taken from the length and breadth of the “Soviet Motherland,” "Revue" illustrates industry and agriculture, political life, popular culture, and technology. The film’s fascinating flow of disparate scenes representing typical Soviet life of the period is, seen from today’s perspective, alternately poignant, funny, and tragic

The best magicians of the 21st century set out on a journey to search for the lost author of the most legendary book about the art of sleight of hand.

Bonn 1948. The member of parliament and lawyer Elisabeth Selbert fights tirelessly for the inclusion of the sentence "Men and women have equal rights" in the Basic Law of the future Federal Republic of Germany. Despite the opposition she encounters during sessions in the Parliamentary Council , there is _she does not stop and stubbornly sticks to her plan . Selbert experiences a grandiose triumph when her application is included in the new Basic Law under Article 3, Paragraph 2 . In doing so , she lays the foundation for what has now been a 65-year political and social debate on the subjectEqual rights.