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Meteor: Sohrab Shahid Saless by Mahmoud Behraznia is a documentary with a different perspective on Sohrab Shahid Saless, a leading Iranian filmmaker. Someone whose viewpoint at cinema and the special type of aesthetics he used in his films has been a path-breaker for many Iranian filmmakers. The film provides the viewer with new information about the life and work of Sohrab Shahid Saless in Germany.

Short documentary vignettes and interviews revolving around cinephile life in Paris.

Melting glaciers, gullied seas, the financial markets are about to collapse. Spectacular images of how growth continues to be blinding. Outside you can hardly see anything because of the smog and the smoke screen.

A bar full of people talking about Volker Spengler. HIGHFALUTIN is an attempt to create such a utopia, a simple "what if."

Director Annekatrin Hendel delivers a portrait of three generations of Brasches as a microcosm of societal tensions being carried out on a large scale — between East and West, art and politics, communism and religion, love and betrayal, utopia and self-destruction.

You don't have to travel to faraway countries to observe wildlife, because the fauna of the big city also provides surprises every day. Contrary to expectations, many bird, mammal and insect species have adapted to the concrete jungle. They have become experts of the urban space. “My Wild Neighbors” takes a poetic look at the lives of animals in the city.

Documentary about young workers in East Germany.

On June 29, 1992, a farmer in East Germany found two dead bodies in a cornfield. They were Romanian citizens shot by hunters while trying to cross the external EU border. Were they really mistaken for wild boars? The trial began four years later and the accused were acquitted – but the relatives of the dead knew nothing. REVISION is the filmic reworking of a case that appeared to be long closed. The film not only attempts to document what really happened, it also poses the questions: why did two men die on a sunny day in the middle of a field? Who were they? What led them here? The search for answers drove the two filmmakers to sift through investigative files. This led them to new witnesses and to uncovering problems with European asylum policy. Above all, however, it led them to the relatives and their memories of the two dead men.

SIE NANNTEN IHN SPENCER follows two of Bud Spencer's biggest fans on a road trip through Europe in search for their idol, who captured the hearts of millions and had so much more to offer than his legendary hammer-like fist blow.

This portrait for the comedian's 70th birthday also shows the artist from his sensitive side. He talks about his failed marriages, his religious upbringing and how he actually wanted to be a serious musician, but that comedy was ultimately more popular with audiences. In addition, many companions from Otto's early youth as well as later prominent companions have their say.

A humorous documentary about a historic hunt in 1929 through the African savannah and Indian jungle with lots of animal footage.

Montage of several photos of the work process of a Turkish guest worker.

No Comment portrays the top climbers and young talents of the scene in both bouldering and route climbing with spectacular cinematography. It doesn't just show the hardest problems, it's also about climbing as a lifestyle and those who have shaped the scene from the beginning, such as Ben Moon, Jerry Moffat and Gerhard Hörhager. It also showcases the young talents like David Lama, Luca Zardini, Markus Bock and Michael Mayr introducing a new generation of super athletes, their philosophy and the way they live their lives. The film features an original soundtrack by10 Tyrolean musicians.

In a 30-minute workshop talk, actress Iris Berben remembers her early leading role in the German film "Supergirl - Das Mädchen von den Sternen" (1971) by director Rudolf Thome in detail. "When I saw the movie again, it sent me on a wonderful journey," recalls the actress. It was a journey back to her beginnings. "It's a wonderful coincidence that young German film also began at this time." For Iris Berben, the re-watching of "Supergirl" became a melancholy look back, in which she observed herself as a young actress in the role of the mysterious alien Francesca Farnese as well as seeing all her colleagues again, including above all Marquard Bohm (1941-2006), this "wonderful madman", with whom she had already played in her first feature film "Detektive" (1969), also directed by Rudolf Thome.

María Nieves Rego (80) and Juan Carlos Copes (83) met when they were 14 and 17, and they danced together for nearly fifty years. In all those years they loved and hated each other and went through several painful separations. Now, at the end of their lives, the two dancers are willing to open up about their love, their hatred, and their passion. In "Our Last Tango" Juan and María tell their story to a group of young tango dancers and choreographers from Buenos Aires, who transform the most beautiful, moving and dramatic moments of the lives into incredible tango-choreographies. These beautifully-shot performances compliment the soul-searching interviews and documentary moments of the film to make this an unforgettable journey into the heart of the tango.

Long before his big stage breakthrough in 1973 in Hamburg, and 4.4 million records sold, the rock musician Udo Lindenberg from the Westphalian province, the man with the long hair and the hat, had many adventures. Before it all started, he moved from the remoteness of Gronau to Hamburg, where he met Paula, who was not his great love, but was quite a hottie. When the team of three was complete with Steffi Stephan, the idea of founding a band developed. But the road to get there was a long one: he drummed as a jazz drummer in bands, had a highly dangerous performance in a US military base in the middle of the Libyan desert and always believed in making it to the very top.

In the shadow of the First World War, the genocide of the Christian Assyrians took place almost unnoticed by the world public. This first systematic genocide of the 20th century was committed by the Young Turks (Ottoman Empire) and would not have been possible without the support of some Kurdish local rulers and their family clans. The Assyrians are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia and have lived in Mesopotamia for thousands of years. The film includes testimony from several European, Turkish and Assyrian historians, as well as genocide researchers, including Professor Taner Akcam, Dr. Gabriele Yonan and Professor David Gaunt. The film includes testimony from survivors of the genocide. Various journalists and publicists also have their say with well-researched information in this documentary. The Assyrians refer to the Genocide as "Seyfo" (ܣܝܦܐ), which translates as "sword".

16 young people are doing their two-week lifeguard service on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn. They navigate between responsibility, belonging to a group and personal self-discovery, while more and more non-swimmers go swimming.

High-budget re-enactments and shooting on original locations sketch an image of the golden age of Elizabethan theater. And scholars from various fields weigh in on the nagging question of whether or not Shakespeare authored the plays for which he receives the credit.

Jean-Michel Jarre is one of the pioneers of electronic music. He is a composer, performer, songwriter, and producer whose pioneering approach to electronic music and live performance has influenced a generation. The emergence of the album "E-Project"is album is the focus of the documentary "A Journey Into Sound" by Birgit Herdlitschke. The film also airs the secret of success of Jean-Michel Jarre. With material from private and public archives, the film looks back on his youth, the first experiments with electronic music and his relationship with his famous father Maurice Jarre (composer of soundtrack for "Lawrence of Arabia", "Doctor Zhivago").

Was my father really a spy, as his file in the former East German Secret Service (STASI) suggests? This question marks the starting point of a son’s journey into his late father’s past which still remains somewhat mysterious even today. Eric Asch is looking for answers – in the Stasi archives, at the NSA and in his own family history. The result is a very personal documentary which reports ironically about the practices of secret service during the Cold War.

In August 1988, two armed bank robbers keep German police at bay for 54 hours during a hostage-taking drama that ends in a shootout and three deaths.

The Legacy of Vincent Price, the first feature-length documentary about the Master of Menace, explores the man behind the legend through conversations with his family, friends, colleagues, historians, and fans.

He wanted to revolutionize theater practice and at the same time social awareness: Today Brecht, who was born in Augsburg in 1898 and died in East Berlin in 1956, is one of the most important playwrights of the 20th century.

This film powerfully documents New York City's gay community's response to the AIDS crisis as they are forced to organize themselves after the government's failure to stem the epidemic. Activists who are interviewed include playwrite Larry Kramer, People With AIDS Coalition co-founder Michael Callen (who died of AIDS in 1994), New York filmmaker and journalist Phil Zwickler, as well as representatives from ACT-UP, Queer Nation and the Gay Men's Health Crisis.

The film traces the rise and fall of GDR deep-sea fishing fleet - and the afterlives of its last surviving ships. Once more than a hundred strong, only a few vessels remain, now under new names, with new missions and new dreams: repurposed as rescue boats, cultural platforms, or sound spaces.

Like ghosts, the temporarily shut down cruise ships lie in the port of Hamburg. A young man comes into town and is stranded on the riverbank, waiting for a message. He watches couples strolling along in the sunset and gets himself some sweets. In a moment of collective pause, ISLANDS IN THE CITY captures a fragile romance. There is a departure in the air, the destination of which no one seems to know.

Best friends Max and Nono bike from Berlin to Beijing, collecting donations to build a school for a unique fundraising adventure in this documentary.

A multiscreen installation, a colorful beach bar, the statue of Saint Christopher - a postcolonial look at the edge of the harbor in Flensburg and the question of what is made visible and what is not.

A documentary about German director Konrad Wolf (1925–1982).

On November 20, 1979 at 5:30 in the morning, hundreds of armed men take over the Grand Mosque of Mecca, transforming the holiest shrine of Islam into a fortress and a trap for almost 100,000 pilgrims inside. This was the beginning of the siege of Mecca…

Documentary that follows seven friends in New York city in their everyday activities.

Spanning 50 years, the documentary traces a path through the Berlin district of Kreuzberg, linking the legacy of the rock band "Ton Steine Scherben" - best known for their work in the 1970s - with their successors.

Ekchart Schmidt examines the machinery behind the dream factory; the Hollywood myth is unmasked. How does the studio industry work? What role does marketing and the hype surrounding the stars play?

Origin sticks like shit to your shoe! That's what Marlen Hobrack says, who grew up as a working-class child in Bautzen. But the promise of the old Federal Republic was that you can become anything if you just try hard enough. But that no longer applies. So is class in Germany fixed from birth? Have we long been living in a country in which origin and family background are more important for future prospects than individual performance and commitment? In Germany, it takes six generations to rise from poverty to the middle class, in Denmark only two generations. Those affected reflect on their life stories, the burden of their social origins, the wrong and right turning points for social advancement, as classified by social researchers. They talk of pride and shame, of financial hardship and wealth, of origin and future, of growing up and moving up in this Germany with its entrenched selection mechanisms for social advancement.

A documentary showing a Chinese investor's attempts to turn a small regional airport in north east Germany into a major international air traffic hub.

A documentary that brings to light the extraordinary story of the Sacred Band of Thebes – an elite military unit composed of 150 pairs of male lovers that became one of the most formidable forces of the ancient world. It delves into the history of this little-known chapter of classical antiquity through forensic archaeology, rare archival material, ancient art, and animation. It explores how the Sacred Band rose to prominence, met its tragic end, and continues to resonate in modern discussions of identity, heroism, and love.

Nazi propaganda film about the Czech "Theresienstadt ghetto" in Terezín. The film was supposed to show the world that Jews didn't suffer in concentration camps. Upon completion, most Jews shown in the film (including director Kurt Gerron) were brought to Auschwitz, where they were killed.

When director Daniel Schmid grew up, his parents ran a hotel in the Alps, and this singular setting was to influence his film. Rather by coincidence, he came to Berlin in the early 1960s and became part of the new German wave. Schmid worked with, among others, Wenders and Fassbinder, for example, as an actor in Wender’s The American Friend. He met Ingrid Caven, who was to play a diva in several of his films. This is a documentation of a part of modern European film history and a good analysis of artistry and how it corresponds to the individual behind the camera. A wealth of archival footage brings us close to many directors and actors in Schmid’s circle. If you’ve never seen a Daniel Schmid film, you are sure to want to after watching this portrait of his life.

A place where people doesn't let their soul or history be robbed, where everyday is vital, as it could be the last. Sergio Olivares, still a political prisoner after thirteen years, and Antonio Cruz, an exiled chilean returning to his hometown after 28 years, find themselves in the magical realness of the south. They don't see themselves as victims, but as men who have made a decision.

"He was attractive, cultivated, very sensitive, very empathetic". Lawyer Astrid Wagner's first impression when meeting the serial killer Jack Unterweger. As a young law student she had close contact with him: "It was a nice feeling to be needed." On June 28, 1994 Unterweger is convicted for the murder of nine prostitutes. Six hours later, he hangs himself in his cell. Twenty years later, Thema unrolls the incredible story of the woman murderer and asks former friends and other companions how Jack Unterweger influenced their lives.

There is Franz, suing the company that has made him redundant after 40 years. Then, for nine months, he holds out in an empty office with nothing to do. There is Stephan who, for eight days and nights, sits on a chair that is part of a giant billboard. Selling yourself is sometimes the quickest way to pay your debts. There is Saskia, the high school graduate, learning how to put together the perfect application. There is Gunnar who is being taught that perceiving your own body as trademark is the key to success. Franz finally wins his lawsuit only to realise he has lost all the same. DEVIL HIDES IN DOUBT is a film about the emotional push and pull of work, its demands and absurdities, and the struggle for fulfilment.

Inspired by characters from 'Alice in Wonderland,' 'Waiting for Godot' and 'Antigone,' young Palestinian actresses deal with the military occupation and gender oppression, violence and grief, on stage and in life. Following the lead of their beloved director and peace activist, Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was murdered on April 4th, 2011 outside the Freedom Theater in the Jenin Refugee Camp in the West Bank, they use their imagination in an unpredictably brutal environment creating an artistic rebellion; a vivid and brave portrayal of a young, active generation of Palestinians.

This 1999 program, broadcast on the Russian television channel Kultura, features an introduction by filmmaker Elem Klimov and film critic Irina Rubanova to an interview with director Larisa Shepitko that was recorded just after the 1978 Berlin International Film Festival.

In a mixture of feature film, music documentary and animated comics, historical facts are retold, analyzed and interpreted in modern settings. Ludwig van Beethoven, played by Lars Eidinger, becomes a contemporary of today's audience. Quick-tempered, irascible, curmudgeonly - that is the common image of Ludwig van Beethoven, the composer with the wild lion's mane. But there is also another Beethoven - young, seductive, spirited and, above all, combative.

Bosom buddies BeV StroganoV, Ovo Maltine, Ichgola Androgyn and Tima die Göttliche are four Berlin drag queens who met in the mid 1980s. These four queens became Germany’s most popular drag performers and have been busy fertilizing the German cultural scene. Besides being performers, they are also political activists – in AIDS awareness, anti-gay violence, the sex workers movement and the struggle against the extreme right and racism. The film tells their story.

An issue of the magazine Kino 81, designed for the film department of WDR by staff of FILMKRITIK

The history of the peplum genre, known as sword-and-sandal cinema, set in Antiquity, from the silent film era to the present day.

On a talkshow, actor and German TV ikon Joachim Fuchsberger recalls how the games for his show "Nur nicht nervös werden" (Don't Get Nervous), first broadcast on West German TV in 1960, were developed along the lines of American psychiatry. Asked "So how many crazy people watched you?", he responded: "A whole crazy, psychologically disturbed nation". Why were the Germans or to be more precise, the West Germans, a psychologically disturbed nation at that time? This is a film about cheerful and serious games, therapies for re-education and self-imposed re-education, as well as the history of the idea of permanent revolution. Those appearing include directors and producers of gameshows, psychiatrists, anthropologists, and the diversely paranoid.

Mr. Groß wants to learn how to cook. To that end, he is attending Ms. Klein's cooking school.

Four lives that could not be more different and a single passion that unites them: the unconditional love for their cinemas, somewhere at the end of the world. Comrades in Dreams brings together six cinema makers from North Korea, America, India and Africa and follows their efforts to make their audiences dream every night.