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Preis der Freiheit

24 hours on the border between East and West Germany. In an outlying West Berlin district, police officers chat about their personal lives, take care of petty offence and at most, warn the odd rubbernecker away from the border to the “Soviet zone”. Meanwhile their East German counterparts are under enormous pressure. The day begins with disciplinary action after one of the border guards was found sleeping on duty. The supervisors demand utmost vigilance and a solid ideological bent, and suspicion and mistrust are the rule within the ranks of these soldiers of the National People’s Army (NVA). Unnoticed by the soldiers, four East Berlin students are preparing to flee to the west. But in the morning mists, only their accomplice, an NVA private, succeeds …

Preis der Freiheit

6.3 1966
Duped Till Doomsday

East Germany's contribution to the 1957 Cannes Film Festival was the wartime melodrama Betrogen bis zum Juengsten Tag. Had the film been released in the U.S., the title would probably have translated to Duped Till the Last. The film condemns the Nazi mindset by concentrating on a particularly odious cover-up. When his son is involved in the accidental killing of a girl, a Gestapo general pulls strings to save the boy from prosecution. The general manages to pin the blame for the killing on a group of Russians, whereupon he gives the men under his command carte blanche to round up and execute as many innocent Russians as they wish. This act of brutality is contrasted with the pangs of guilt suffered by the son and his co-conspirators.

Duped Till Doomsday

6.3 1957
Slaughterhouses of Modernity

Contemporary cinema’s preeminent chronicler of architecture and its intersection with the ever-present crisis of 20th-century modernity, Heinz Emigholz returns with an alternately mournful and sly treatise on how the presence—and, in some cases, absence—of municipal and communal building architecture is inseparable from capitalist ideology. Focusing mainly on cities and provinces in Argentina, Germany, and Bolivia, Emigholz’s latest film is a work of quiet observation and historical excavation. From slaughterhouses in Salamone to the flooded former spa city of Epecuén to the newly built Humboldt Forum in Berlin, the film demonstrates the effect of capital on public spaces, where creation and destruction go hand in hand, and as always, Emigholz makes the journey one of intellectual force and cinematic beauty.

Slaughterhouses of Modernity

NR 2023
Asphalt Night

This low-budget drama details the unlikely friendship between a smart-aleck seventeen-year-old punk and a thirty-year-old rock 'n roll musician in search of songwriting inspiration. Angel heads out to the streets of Berlin in his drag-racer to revitalize his flagging creativity. He is desperately trying for a new song that refuses to surface. He meets scrappy Johnny on the streets and saves him from everyone he tends to alienate: cops, motorcycle gangs, and passers-by. Johnny has his guitar with him and is the first to break Angel's deadlock. A tune he plucks out is just the beginning that Angel was looking for. The rest of the song lies out there somewhere and the two head into Berlin's night spots to find it.

Asphalt Night

6.5 1980
Filmsommerliches

A feuilletonistic conversation with the movie audience about the question: How do you feel about going to the movies? In general - and especially in summer? What do people expect from movies these days and what criticism do they have on their minds? The interviewees are vacationers of all ages and tastes. The occasion and background for this not entirely serious survey is the 1965 Summer Film Festival, which is captured in a cheerful reportage style. Interviews with actors on the festive opening evening and climax of the film confirm that there is only a relative cinema fatigue. It depends on the quality of the film on offer.

Filmsommerliches

NR 1966
A Glass of Water

London at the time of the War of the Spanish Succession. Queen Anne's followers are divided into two factions: one side, led by Lord Bolingbroke, is pushing for peace talks and a quick reconciliation with France; the other side, led by the influential Duchess of Marlborough, is in favor of continuing the war. Queen Anne herself is still undecided, and so a game of intrigue unfolds at court between Bolingbroke and Marlborough, each trying to win the queen over to his side.

A Glass of Water

8.0 1923
Klassenphoto

In this two-part documentary, Eberhard Fechner reconstructs the story of a class of pupils who passed their A-levels at Berlin's Lessing-Gymnasium in 1937. The starting point for the research is the class photo that gives the film its title. The conversations with the men, which revolve around their lives, bring back memories. However, it becomes clear how many of them have repressed the events of the Nazi era. Apologies, excuses and trivialization of the violence and crimes come out of many mouths.

Klassenphoto

9.0 1971
Excursion into Life

Felix Bressart, later one of the most delightful members of the Ernst Lubitsch "stock company," plays the title character in the Austrian comedy Hirsekorn Greift Ein (Hirsekorn Does Something About It). It's a typical worm-turns affair, as a mild-mannered provincial actor ends up working as a chauffeur for a scatterbrained female novelist. Slapstick is the order of the day, except in the scenes involving heroine Charlotte Susa. Guiding the actors through their paces was Rudolf Bernauer, a stage actor-manager of vast experience. Critics in 1931 felt that Hirsekorn Greift Ein was too thin to be stretched to 90 minutes.

Excursion into Life

5.8 1931
The Fatherless

They never expected Kyra to turn up again. The two brothers and their sister, brought together when their father dies, are stunned by the appearance of their sister.Kyra suddenly vanished over twenty years ago during the breakup of the hippie commune where they were all born. She is like a stranger to them now... but when she discovers that her very existence has been kept secret, she starts to uncover old mysteries. And soon all the brothers and sisters find themselves unearthing the roots of their childhood memories they had suppressed in order to survive. In her debut feature film Marie Kreutzer embarks upon an intriguing and disturbing journey into the past, a gripping study of belonging and solitude, bonds and freedom. Written by Novotny & Novotny Film

The Fatherless

5.1 2011
Hannes

Born at the same place, on the same day, Hannes and Moritz grow up to be inseparable friends. But one day a tragic motorcycle accident will change their lives forever, leaving Hannes in a coma with a slim chance of recovery. Moritz refuses to give up on his friend and puts his own life aside to ensure Hannes is always loved and surrounded by life and laughter. Trying to stand his ground, Moritz will then embark on an inspiring and life-changing journey, realizing that every day is worth celebrating and proving their friendship is stronger than ever.

Hannes

5.3 2021
Magical Mystery or: The Return of Karl Schmidt

Under the auspicious name "Magical Mystery" the Berlin techno label BummBumm Records wants to go on a rave tour. Karl Schmidt aka Charly himself was once an aspiring artist on the scene, until he retired after a nervous breakdown five years ago. Since then he lives in a supervised withdrawal WG in Hamburg. Now, as a driver and custodian for the party-loving DJs and their producers, he becomes part of "Magical Mystery", trying to lead a self-determined life after years of patronizing and well-intentioned advice.

Magical Mystery or: The Return of Karl Schmidt

6.1 2017
Vaterland

In Saxon-Anhalt, near the town of Zerbst, set away from busy roads, next to a deserted military landing strip, is the village of Straguth. An unimportant place. Lost in time. Or ahead of time. The film describes the people of this quiet place, in the past, the present and the future. A film like the digging of a hole. If one could dig in spiral form. And dig a black hole. An archaeological journey to landscape, people and things, traces of changing times and transition. Wide open landscapes and detailed drawings of people within. And on entering Otto Nathos’ modest bar, there is always talk of the war. The era of youth.

Vaterland

5.1 2002