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A prefabricated estate in Moscow is meant as a transit stop for four queer Cuban exiles – until Russia’s attack on Ukraine radically shifts their outlook. Moving telephone calls back home provide the structure of Luís Alejandro Yero’s debut work.

Kilian (24) and Thomas (26) are successful poker players and part of a clique of German players who have met over the years during various poker events. Alternating between live and online poker they are in limbo between the daily ups and downs of the game, between winning and losing.

When it comes to shipbuilding, there's no shortage of superlatives. As cruise liners become floating cities, cargo ships and container ships continue to grow in size. As a result, ship captains and their officers are taking on increasing responsibility, and must learn to master a multitude of high-tech instruments. The increase in controls and safety measures does not prevent the occurrence of dramatic accidents, such as the sinking of the Costa Concordia in 2012, which claimed the lives of thirty-two people. Like 80-90% of accidents at sea, this disaster was caused by human error, which the standards set by the International Maritime Organization can hardly eradicate.

Portrait of a couple who decide to work and live for the summer time on a lonely alp.

It is considered the largest traveling circus in Europe and is one of the oldest in Germany: Circus Krone celebrated its 100th anniversary a few years ago. However, the history of the family business actually began back in 1870 - when the founding couple toured the fairgrounds. The small animal show became a dazzling entertainment giant.

The white chalk cliffs of Rügen are among the most impressive natural monuments on earth, which the painter Casper David Friedrich immortalized for posterity as early as the 19th century. Germany's largest island with its seaside resorts from the Gründerzeit, its smaller side islands and peninsulas that give it its shape, its lagoon-like Bodden waters, the dense beech forests, the yellow rapeseed fields and the meadows, the shady tree avenues and the white sandy beaches is not only a magnet for tourists, but also a unique natural paradise in the middle of the Baltic Sea, a habitat for the rare white-tailed eagle, fallow deer, raccoon dogs and badgers as well as a resting place for huge swarms of migratory birds such as geese and cranes that can be heard trumpeting from afar. In this nature documentary, the unique landscapes and the diversity of the animal world of Rügen are captured with beautiful pictures during the changing of the seasons.

Making-of documentary that covers "Cobra Verde," Herzog's last film with Kinski before Kinski's death. This is the documentary that registers the behind the scenes moments of "Cobra Verde", the last project that united director Werner Herzog to actor Klaus Kinski. The notorious and infamous relation between the two filled Cinema theatres with masterpieces, but also filled pages of Cinema History with mutual declarations of both love and hate.

Shortly after German reunification, three residents of a quiet area north of Berlin talk about their plans and attempts at new economic beginnings amid the changes brought by the fall of the Berlin Wall.

This film examines two parallel German lives: that of a Nazi general who continued in his job during the democratic era and a communist bricklayer who could hardly make ends meet after the war. Both had fought in the Spanish Civil War, but their stories can’t be merged; the audience gazes into a wound that will not heal.

Many Zimbabweans have fled their economically stricken country, but they do send a lot of money home: in 2021 remittances totaled more than a billion dollars. One such migrant is Frank, who has emigrated to Cape Town. His brother Miles and sister Portia live in the UK, one in London, the other in Luton. His other sister still lives in Zimbabwe, but their mother MaMlilo thinks that she should also emigrate.

This Rain Will Never Stop takes the audience on a powerful, visually arresting journey through humanity’s endless cycle of war and peace. The film follows 20-year-old Andriy Suleyman as he tries to secure a sustainable future while navigating the human toll of armed conflict. From the Syrian civil war to strife in Ukraine, Andriy’s existence is framed by the seemingly eternal flow of life and death.

Psychiatric patients refer to themselves as survivors, victims, former inmates, consumers, or users. "Nerve" potraits four persons from Vienna and New York expressing different positions and experiences of former psychiatric patients.

Communist ideals have long lost their value in Yiwu, a city with 600 Christmas factories, in which Christmas as we know it is produced for the entire world. With rising wages, the workers in Christmas factories can now afford newest iPhones, but they still live in crowded dormitories. All migrants in their own country, nostalgic for some place far away, some miss their families left in hometowns, other miss their friends and lovers from the factories when they go home for holidays. Young generation is already tired of long factory hours, chemical fumes and glitter particles, and they do not care for their parents' wishes to get educated. Stuck in between Chinese tradition and the newly discovered Chinese dream, they want their own businesses, to be rich, to be independent, to be in love.

A interview with Fritz Lang where he talks about his career in Germany and troubles with the Nazis.

Based on interviews with leading Neonazis and Holocaust deniers, as well as archival material from conspiratorial meetings, the film briefly reveals the state of the German Neonazi scene.

Oma & Bella is an intimate glimpse into the world of Regina Karolinski (Oma) and Bella Katz, two friends who live together in Berlin. Having survived the Holocaust and then stayed in Germany after the war, it is the food they cook together that they remember their childhoods, maintain a bond to each other and answer questions of heritage, memory and identity. As the film follows them through their daily lives, a portrait emerges of two women with a light sense of humor, vivid stories, and a deep fondness for good food. Created by Oma's granddaughter Alexa, the film captures their ongoing struggle to retain a part of their past while remaining very much engaged in the present.

In this documentary, Joachim Hellwig uses partly unpublished footage to shed light on a dark chapter of German history and shows the entanglements between the politicians' claims to power and the interests of industry and business in Germany from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War (1914 to 1945). The Nuremberg War Crimes and Industrial Trials served as the basis for this documentary.

Documentary that narrates the birth of airships in Germany.

The Brazilian Aracy de Carvalho moves to Hamburg with her son in 1934. Despite the Nazi dictatorship, Germany is a refuge for her as a single woman. But through her work at the Brazilian consulate, Aracy is confronted with the persecution of Jews in the Third Reich. She helped countless of them to leave the country in the years before the Second World War. For the refugees and their survivors, who have their say in the film, she becomes the angel of Hamburg. The docudrama tells the story of a woman who did not want to be a hero, but who saved the lives of countless people.

In the summer of 1982, the Israeli army invaded Beirut. During this time, it raided the Palestinian Research Center and looted its entire archive. The archive contained historical documents of Palestine, including a collection of still and moving images. Taking this as a premise, 'A Fidai Film' aims to create a counter-narrative to this loss, presenting a form of cinematic sabotage that seeks to reclaim and restore the looted memories of Palestinian history. It’s a poignant exploration of identity, memory, and resistance, told through a unique blend of documentary and experimental filmmaking techniques.

An austere treatise on the military-industrial complex that produces napalm.

A portrait of the Spanish-German actor Daniel Brühl, a versatile performer capable of moving easily from the gentlest to the darkest role.

The Greek composer takes the viewers on a journey through 70 years of his prolific musical career. He talks, analyzes and unfolds the inspirations of his works using a plethora of archive films which illustrate his explanations.

When the snow melts and the hills of Appenzell are dotted with green and white, buckets of water slowly make their way up and down the slope. After a time, the gentle movement turns into violent swaying. Shots ring through the air, the buckets are punctured. Slowly the water begins to flow. This is the high point of a ritual that begins deep within the bowels of the mountain. Then trails of water spurt through the air to the thawing slopes and the water begins to gush, nearly causing the well in the valley to overflow.

Short film about Hitler's rise to power in 1933

The “Film about the Father” is a difficult genre. Andreas Goldstein, son of the GDR cultural functionary Klaus Gysi (1912–1999) has tackled this task with a complete lack of vanity, but with insistence: measured and calm, honest and intellectual, analytical and personal. He uncovers a mosaic that renounces both the teleologies of the self-styled winners of history and the simplifications of (West) German Oscar nominees. This film is not about the lives of others, but about his own life. Not about yesterday, about today, too.

The personal and professional story of Ilona Staller, known as Cicciolina, is probably unique: she left communist Hungary and moved to Italy, where she found a fertile environment for a life dedicated to scandal.

A class reunion of the twenty-somethings in the old school. What one remembers, what the individual has new to tell. One of them: Marieluise. Her love, her work, her demands on herself and the world into which she is coming of age.

In the 21st part of his Photography and beyond series, Heinz Emigholz projects as usual a series of structures into our brains and from there on to the screen: Airports, motorways and bus stops; department stores, market halls and warehouses.

Main subject of Serengeti is the mass migration of wildebeest , which in search of nutritious grass hundreds of kilometers annually by the savannah draw. At the end of the rainy season, they break into a huge herd of over a million animals on the north. The wildebeest and other animals are joining the migration, as zebras and gazelles , continuously exposed to hazards, particularly by predators such as lions and cheetahs . A highlight of the great migration, the crossing of the Mara is: There, the wildebeest have to overcome not only meter high cliffs, they are also crocodiles delivered. With the onset of the rainy season, however, leave the wildebeest north again what had long been a mystery. The reason for this is that the grass in the north a phosphorus deficiency , and said thus wildebeest forces to retreat to the south.

This film investigates and raises awareness about the perennial pollutants PFAS, present in many everyday products, including beauty products, clothing, and kitchen utensils. .

More and more patients are turning to osteopaths as an attractive alternative to conventional medicine. Critics point out the lack of studies backing up their claims, and the profession is not officially recognised everywhere. Yet researchers around the world are increasingly able to prove the positive effects of osteopathy. We travel to the USA, birthplace of osteopathy, as well as to Europe, and show what happens under the osteopath's hands, where the manual healing method can help and where it has its limits.

A journey into the American Wild West, between Past and Present, from Buffalo Bill's last gleaming hopes, to the Native Americans resurrection.

How the class community is formed. The children's environment and the experiences and discoveries that the school gives them. They are reflected in the lessons. At the end of the school year they receive their first report card and are "Young Pioneers".

Eleven short documentaries about eleven youth football teams for different age groups and with varying prospects. This Berlinale project is part of the cultural programme of the 2024 European Football Championship hosted by Germany.

We do not doubt the existence of humans. On the other hand, we still do not know why we exist or how we came into existence. This film deals with man's eternal dream to discover his origins.

In 1921, German philosopher Walter Benjamin purchased a painting Angelus Novus by the Swiss-German artist Paul Klee. Benjamin admired it and described it in detail in his essay “Theses on the Philosophy of History.” The picture portrays a restless angel who tasted reality. For a moment the angel freezes as if observing the inevitable turns of history. German director Eric Esser filmed at the Spanish-French border, which used to be a place of smuggling routes. It is across this border Walter Benjamin once escaped from the Nazis too.

A film director confides in his interlocutor. He talks about the working process, about creative blocks, about artistic crises and expressive forces. At some point, the idea takes hold that this conversation could be turned into a film. And this is the very film we’re watching the two of them in.

Documentary by Jean-Pierre Gorin about twin girls who spontaneously developed their own unique language as children.

The authors Johannes Unger and Sascha Adamek follow the traces of Ulrike Meinhof's life. In the documentary, contemporary witnesses who knew Ulrike Meinhof directly and experienced her path from different perspectives have their say: publisher Klaus Wagenbach, Spiegel editor-in-chief Stefan Aust, Meinhof friends Peggy Parnass and Erika Runge, RAF members Monika Berberich and Manfred Grashof, friends and neighbors from her youth and journalist Bettina Röhl, Ulrike Meinhof's daughter.

Australia is known for its sun-kissed beaches, however the 2500 miles between the coasts are made up of a patchwork of contrasting landscapes: tropical rainforests, snow-capped mountains, dry woodlands, giant wetlands, tropical reefs, and hostile desert.

At the beginning of the winter semester 68/69, the students of the Department of Educational Sciences (AfE) at the University of Frankfurt decide to boycott all courses and at the same time organize counter-seminars. The strike was directed against the effects of the technocratic university reform that had just been introduced and was supported by all the student councils, especially the sociologists, students of Frankfurt Critical Theory. But this solidarity strike developed into a tangible dispute over the dismantling of authoritarian teaching situations and new emancipatory research strategies. The sociology seminar is occupied and renamed the "Spartakus Seminar". Working groups now meet there. The SDS discusses with Professors Habermas, Mitscherlich and v. Friedeburg shortly before the police occupy the seminar at night.

Citations from love letters and poems written between Karl Marx and his fiancée Jenny von Westphalen during their teenage years are combined with images, paintings, and beautiful, atmospheric landscapes of places connected to Marx.

One hundred years after the assassination of German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919), we look back at the struggles of this pioneer of the Workers' International.

A Kellergasse – the cellar lane – is one of the distinguishing cultural and physical features of the winegrowing region Niederösterreich – Lower Austria. There are more than a thousand of them. Until recently, wine was not only stored in the Kellergasse, but pressed and fermented there as well. Today, the Kellergassen have less to do with occupation and more with recreation. A documentary by Georg Riha follows a year in the life of this valuable cultural legacy.

Farocki’s intriguing and troubling film explores the processes of visual perception and how they affect our understanding of history and society. In a work reminiscent of the writings of Paul Virilio and Michel Foucault, Farocki examines a range of phenomena including aerial reconnaissance photos of the Auschwitz concentration camp.