Discoveries from Germany World Cinema

Director Gregor Samsa, washed-up and in his late fifties, is reviewing his life. Having wasted it as a cultural worker doesn't exactly add to his joy.

A psychiatrist should assess the guilt of a woman abuser.

Peter Pan is an adolescent boy who has escaped from his parents to the dreamland of Nowhere. Peter is determined to remain a little boy forever; because the adult world does not please him at all. Together with the fairy Tinkerbell, Peter Pan lures the girl Wendy and her two brothers John and Michael to Nowhere, where Peter teaches them to fly. They join forces with the Indians, led by the beautiful Tigerlilly, to fight together against the evil Captain Jack Haken and his wild pirates.

After they have graduated from school, the two best friends Kati and Jo jump into their purple Benz and embark on a journey around the world southwards. Kati, however, struggled with the decision for the journey as the love of her life returned to their hometown Tandern shortly before their departure. The journey leads the two friends over the Brenner pass, where their car suddenly stops working. When Kati then also learns that her grandfather is about to die, she wants to return home – this puts the friendship of the two to an acid test.

Twenty-year-old Henri Rebecque wants to make his dream come true: to bring Benjamin Constant's Adolphe to the screen in amateur format. Armed with a sixteen-millimeter camera and a team of friends, Henri embarks on this adventure, playing the role of Adolphe himself. Despite all the warnings, he lived through the passion and ordeal of the novel's hero, right to the end. Different times and circumstances will not change this.

Four erotic short films, all with similar unexpected endings: 'The Dutch Master': a woman who enters a living painting; 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch': a woman is lured by noises from a chamber; 'Vroom Vroom Vroooom': a motorcycle transforms into a woman; and 'Wet': a hot tub salesman seduced by a woman.

BREAK UP MAN is an odd couple road movie and tells the story of Henri, who works for a break up agency in Berlin and on behalf of those who want to separate themselves from their future “ex”-partners. To complete his most important mission he is confronted with an unwanted partner, Toto, who spoils more or less everything and makes Henri’s life a nightmare.

The fourth installment in the “Maxhütten Cycle” and a continuation of the story of Katrin Hensel, a block-dancer and member of the People’s Chamber.

Perhaps they should never have met, but fate wanted otherwise. Monika and Joseph. She is a curator, he is an immigrant from Congo, a businessman with an unclear past and present. They meet during a police raid at a bar, when the first of many sparks flies between them. An understated love story, a melodrama without pathos, a fragile story about the ambiguous nature of love and the impossibility of overcoming it through reason.

Jochen Wenzel, a young teacher, married with two kids, one day surprisingly falls in love with a young male colleague, Tom Leuthner and they begin an unusual affair (= "Eine aussergewöhnliche Affäre"). While Ina, Jochen's wife, worries about Jochen's distanced behavior without having a clue of her husband's affair, Jochen and Tom seriously fall for each other. Torn between his family and his new love, Jochen has to make a decision. Written by Smoothhoney

Film director Jeff and his lead actor are taking their time getting to set. In their absence, the crew lack a purposeful way to spend their time waiting, so they drink heavily. However, as booze is downed and frustration sets in, morale hits rock bottom.

From Murnau to Herzog, and until modern incarnations, a mischievous exploration of a cinematographic legendary character, with Nosferatu himself as a guide...

25-year-old Sibel lives with her father and sister in a secluded village in the mountains of Turkey’s Black Sea region. Sibel is a mute, but she communicates by using the ancestral whistled language of the area.

Lola is part of “The Migrant Workers”, a Turkish drag queen troupe who perform to great acclaim. Lola’s gay little brother Murat, on the other hand, is just beginning his search for an identity. An intense family drama set in “Anatolian” Berlin-Kreuzberg.

A family spends three summer days in a beautiful lake mansion close to Berlin. Together with her new lover, Irene visits her brother Alex, who still inhabits the house with Irene's writer son Konstantin. Konstantin's girl-friend pops in, too, and all of them drift away from each other more and more.

Frustrated, because he is forced to produce bad TV-shows, a manager of a TV-station, enters the station and manipulates the ratings, to initiate a TV-revolution.

A nine-year-old girl who has just moved with her parents to Hamburg, Germany, is desperate for finding a best friend. The daughter of a Brazilian father and German mother, Lola is a little girl who dreams she's a rock star, but mostly dreams of having a best friend.

Young Prince Nechljudov is summoned as a judge in a murder trial. A rich merchant was found dead in the room of the inn where he was staying and the prostitute Maslova was accused of the crime. Nechljudov recognizes in the woman the maid of the aunts he had seduced and abandoned years before and tries to convince the authorities of her of his innocence but to no avail. Convinced that he is responsible for her moral fall, he follows her to Siberia where she must serve her sentence.

Former secret government agent Max Hecker (Sven Martinek) disguises himself with a clown mask in order to fight international crime. He hangs up his mask when one of his supporters, journalist Claudia (Diana Frank), is murdered. Four years later, he must put it back on as Claudia's sister Leah (Eva Habermann) is kidnapped by the same people that killed Claudia.

The lackluster and plodding Bolweiser has the (mis)fortune to be married to the town’s siren; his trusting nature leads him into serious trouble when she beds nearly every available guy.

Claire lives with her wealthy adopted parents in a luxurious and isolated house in the woods. She discovers a wounded and bleeding boy her age in her family's garden shed. The boy is a young drug courier from Afghanistan; shot and wounded after serving his purpose as human packing material. Claire decides to keep the boy a secret. He slowly recovers under her care; and they fall in love. When the drug dealers return and Claire's family is due to move back to the city; they decide to flee; though Claire finds it difficult to outrun her past as an abandoned child.

A man suffers from the curse of lycanthrope and seeks help from doctor and wife team. They both turn out to be vampires and end up dueling it out with the werewolf star.

On a one-day business trip to New York, a German business executive falls in love with a singer-songwriter who exposes him to her Brooklyn world and emotions he's never experienced before.

Georg "Schorsch" Kempter is a gardener in a small Bavarian town, working day-in, day-out in his nursery, which is facing bankruptcy. He doesn't like to talk much. He never has. His marriage has long lost all its magic and on top of that, he has trouble to connect with his daughter. Only when he is flying in his own rickety biplane, Schorsch feels truly free. When the owner of the local golf course tries to cheat Schorsch for his money, claiming the shade of green of the grass Schorsch has planted on the golf course is not right, insolvency seems unavoidable. So just when his airplane is about to be impounded, Schorsch grabs the control stick and flies away in an attempt to save his plane and himself. He embarks onto a journey into the unknown, to places he has never seen before, full of odd and special encounters - and with every take-off and every landing, this tough man's heart slowly warms up to what you might call an idea of happiness.

The sleepy village of Gendering is basically just a tiny spot on the map, but a very beautiful one. The village is so attractively located between the Alps and Munich that the young innkeeper Paula receives an offer to sell the village to an investor for 18 million euros: Gendering is to become a luxury vacation park.

In a village in eastern Turkey, tales of the economic success of Turks in Switzerland inspire Haydar to convince his wife Meryem that they must go. He sells their livestock and small plot of land in exchange for passage for two. He wants to leave their seven children in the care of the eldest and his parents; his father advises him to take one son to be educated in Europe. Will anyone reach the land of promise?

Orion commander Cliff Allister McLane, galactic war hero and unconventional daredevil in the service of the world government, is transferred with his crew to the space patrol. On top of that, Colonel Villa, head of the Galactic Security Service, provides him with the attractive agent Tamara Jagellovsk as a chaperone. From the very first patrol flight, the two Orion officers get into heated arguments. Tamara drives Cliff to despair with her Alpha Orders. When unknown beings from outer space, known as Frogs, attack Earth and the world government becomes bogged down in wrangling over jurisdiction, the fate of humanity lies in the hands of Cliff and Tamara. A supernova directed by exoterrists on Earth's course is destroyed at the last minute when Orion is abandoned. However, the next wave of attacks by the Frogs comes with the support of terrestrial revolutionaries.

Scotland Yard is after a homicidal maniac called The Blue Hand, which is what he uses to kill his victims.

After an accident while climbing in Patagonia, extreme sportswoman Barbara is forced to return to her home country, which she left more than ten years ago. Unlike her boyfriend, who is unable to cope with caring for Barbara, who has been confined to a wheelchair since the fall, her mother Irene and father Hans welcome her "Bärbel" home with kissing arms. She also gets help from her sister Moni, who has even attended further training to be able to give her better support. Thanks to the support of her family and her fierce nature, Barbara is gradually getting closer to her dream of one day being able to walk again and possibly even pursue her beloved hobby.

Best friends Nini and Jameelah are both 14 years old and live in the same housing complex in Berlin. Jameelah's family is from Iraq and might be deported if their application for citizenship isn't approved, but right now, the girls try not to worry about these existential problems. They look forward to the Berlin summer and the school holidays.

Michelle, a French sculptor living in Rome, is told of a job babysitting a rich man's son by her new friend Ann, an actress. When she arrives at the boy's house, she discovers that he in fact has been kidnapped...

Film noir, which enjoyed particular success in the 1930s and 1940s, is probably the most profound genre of classic Hollywood cinema. Eckhart Schmidt tries to show the background and developments and speaks, among others, with directors such as Richard Fleischer and Robert Wise as well as with "femme fatale" actresses. Filmmakers of the following generations explain how the style and themes of noir continue to shape cinema today.

Highly intelligent professor helps solving crimes.

On December 24, in the middle of the supposedly quietest time of the year, anything is possible! And this is exactly what the episodic film "Schrille Nacht" tells in seven short stories.

Steve, a young professional snowboarder, ruins a high-paying photo shoot by playing a silly prank. He, his girlfriend Branka and fellow snowboarder Joschi are left behind on the mountain. They seek shelter in an après-ski tavern that is hosting an all-night party. Things go from bad to worse when a scientific experiment unleashes an epidemic of zombies and mutant wildlife. This is mostly lost on the local drunkards, as they are not always easy to distinguish from zombies themselves. But Steve, Branka and Joschi have to find a way to survive this hellish night.

After police officer Jan Wiegand is critically injured in action, public prosecutor Judith Schrader throws herself into the fight against organized crime in Berlin. But she would actually have to give up the case, as she has a secret relationship with the married victim.

Wolter von Auenstedt is repeatedly deceived by his glamorous wife Hedwig.

A load of excited female winter vacationers travel to the Bavarian mountains. It's going to be a turbulent time for the funny little fat director from Berlin and the other passengers. The ladies have planned for this, traveling without husbands - in the hope of finding more than a full replacement among the local lads. And none of them are disappointed, although the innkeeper is keen to ensure that his establishment remains respectable.

In medieval times, a horse merchant is forced by a noble to leave part of his stock as payment for crossing his land. Upon returning, he finds his horses near death, and when the noble refuses to compensate him, the merchant fights unsuccessfully against the injustice.

A couple want to sell their house on a glacier. A potential buyer, who suffers a fainting spell during the viewing, is immediately accommodated in the guest room. She behaves strangely, sneaking into the couple's bed at night and seems to have a connection to the glacier area.

Charlotte Kler has enjoyed a privileged life alongside her husband, star conductor Walter Kler, but has also jetted restlessly around the world with him. She is delighted that this is now to come to an end and the family will be reunited in Munich. But things turn out differently than she thinks: her husband secretly makes plans to take a job in New York, her daughter reproaches her and her granddaughter is not interested in her. Not a good start for Charlotte. But a chance acquaintance with a former lifeguard brings her back to what really matters in life.

The young Prue Shackleton travels from London to Cornwall to visit her beloved aunt Phoebe, who has just become a widow. On the train she meets Charlotte, a sad little girl who comes from a broken home.

An ordinary man's life takes an extraordinary turn for the worst after he finds himself caught in the tangled web of a manipulative mass murderer.

The era of the feared sea pirates Klaus Störtebeker and Gödeke Michels is coming to an end. After a long period with no booty at last a bulging ship appears on the horizon. However, Störtebeker is badly wounded in the attempted capture and the pirates suffer ignominious defeat. Not only their ship is down the drain - Störtebeker himself is suddenly plagued by anxiety and doubt about his very existence as a pirate. He is drawn to the beautiful country girl Bille, while Michels gets rebuffed by the friesian princess Okka. In the very moment that the crew have mutinied and co-captain Michels is literally at the end of his tether, they discover on board their ramshackle old tub a most unique wonder weapon. Glory days are quickly revived - until the mighty Hanse consolidate their power and weaponry and go to war against the pirates. Störtebeker and Michels are forced to decide: To live as a farmer or to die as a pirate.

The story of Aladin is one of the most beautiful and well known fairy tales from "the Arabian nights". Aladin is the son of a poor tailor. But with the help of Dschinni, a friendly ghost, he achieves luck and wealth. And since this is a fairy tale, he marries the sultan’s beautiful daughter in the end.

A reconstruction of the shipwreck of Costa Concordia, occurred on the night of 13 January 2012 in front of the Island of Giglio. A tragic night, full of emotions, that changed the life of those who were on board and the history of tourist navigation.

Holly Shaw wants to prove her writing talent in a reading of her romance novel. But she achieves the exact opposite with the cynical reporter Aaron Kingsley. On the way to her car, Holly is attacked. Her papers, her books, her coat and her shoes are found by the police on the riverbank.

Anna lives a secluded life with her husband Count Alessio Capilupi, who is almost twice her age, and her son Sergio, whom she adores. Antonio, a young man from one of the wealthiest families in Italy and a successful powerboat racer, falls passionately in love with her; but at first she keeps her distance. It is only when her husband Alessio reproaches her after having heard rumours that his wife may be having an affair that she decides not to postpone her happiness any longer, and begins a passionate affair with Antonio.

The communist and resistance fighter Lorenz Reger, who after the war put all his efforts in the creation of a socialist German state, learns that he has only a short time left to live. Nevertheless, he wants to take on one last difficult new task: He wants to restructure a large firm which has run deep into the red numbers. In a short amount of time, Reger manages to establish mutual trust between the employees and the new management. Furthermore, he motivates the employees with his personal interest for their concerns.

In the center of Hamburg, the discovery of an unexploded bomb from the Second World War not only leads to a far-reaching evacuation, but also to an interpersonal state of emergency.

"Your colleague has more testosterone than Mike Tyson," Kozack is told and - even worse - has to admit that his interlocutor is right. He was always the alpha male on the beat! But since the BKA officer Mia von Weitersdorf and the Berlin police officer were welded together to form a team against their will, she shows him where the hammer hangs. Kozack had blown up an undercover operation for which Mia was responsible. A colleague was killed, a suitcase full of money and the designer drug "Green Devil" went missing. Mia and Kozack are put on leave - and continue their investigation together. After some initial friction, they realize that they complement each other very well: Kozack knows his way around the Berlin scene and Mia has a quick wit and excellent contacts "at the top". Kozack has to realize that Mia is an equal partner - a hard blow for the macho man.

A revealing and devastating portrait of a trio of aspiring real-life Viennese models. Vivian will stop at nothing to be a magazine cover girl. Lisa fills her time with routine plastic surgery and cocaine binges, while innocent Tanja focuses on the mystical through tarot cards, yoga, and raw animal energy.

Two friends who are doing civil service flee to the Austrian Alps to escape being forced into the army. While there, one of them rediscovers his past and they realise that it's going to be more fun than they thought.

The armouring soldier and writer Werner Bertin is ordered to the Western Front to France during the First World War. The use before Verdun - with all the horrors of war in the period 1916/1917 - brings a fundamental change of consciousness for the academic from Berlin. The intellectual devoted to bravery by fate develops into a disappointed but rebellious being. He sees more and more the injustices of warlike conflicts and their social causes.

A love story of a 17 year old punk-rocker and a 15 year old runaway girl.

To mark Beethoven's 250th birthday, the documentary sheds light on the composer's private side, linking his writings with his music in an original way. Beethoven's many letters and notes tell of his temperament, his love affairs, his humanism and his struggles, especially with the early onset of deafness.

THE ARYANS is Mo Asumang's personal journey into the madness of racism during which she meets German neo-Nazis, the US leading racist, the notorious Tom Metzger and Ku Klux Klan members in the alarming twilight of the Midwest. In The ARYANS Mo questions the completely wrong interpretation of "Aryanism" - a phenomenon of the tall, blond and blue-eyed master race.

Jojo, a bicycle messenger prone to daydreaming, gets a job offer from a stranger that begins to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. When the route becomes a regular assignment, Jojo finds romance and deadly enemies along the way.

Auschwitz is a hard-hitting war film which shows life as it really was at the death camp.