Discoveries from Germany World Cinema

Finally out again. The attempt to cheat his boss out of a truckload cost haulage driver Oswald a year of his life and his job. Now it's back home to the prefabricated building. It's just in time that Oswald's buddy Karl knows about trophies made from old D-Mark coins. In the iron foundry on the outskirts of the city, old coins worth several hundred thousand Deutschmarks are regularly stored for further processing - virtually unguarded. As the old coins can still be exchanged, this is a small but sure coup. While Karl is still laughing at Oswald's naivety, he is already beginning to put his plan into action. In a series of tragic and absurd situations, he recruits a team that couldn't be more different, from doped athletes to hated ex-Stasi men. They are united by their desire to use the money to make a difference.

While on a Mediterranean vacation, a seemingly happy boyfriend and girlfriend find their connection to one another tested as they bond with another couple.

Ela, a young actress, gets a role with the well-known theatre director Franz Kramer. The production is a great opportunity for Ela, but also comes with pressure. Kramer constantly oversteps Elas boundaries, and the situation worsens when Kramer sexually harasses her. Ela struggles to reconstruct her role as a self-confident character-and realizes that to do so, she has to take the same steps of self-empowerment in her real life.

Arthur Schnitzler's key piece describes the liaisons of his artist colleagues from the Cafe Central, Vienna. Behind the character "Treuenhof" is Peter Alterberg recognized, "Winkler" = Arthur Schnitzler, "Flatterer" = Frida Uhl, "Rapp" = Stefan Großmann, "Willi" = Hans Lang, "Van Zack" = Adolf Loos, and "Lisa" = Lina Loos.

When Hanna Herold from Namibia receives the news of her father's death, it is a double shock for her: she had previously lived in the belief that her father had died in Africa when she was three years old. Together with her husband Holger, Hanna flies to Lüderitz. She wants to find out who her father was. The notary's letter also announces that her father has left her an inheritance.

About Icelandic composer Jon Leifs (1899-1968) who spent much of his life in Germany before WWII. The film begins in the 1930s after he has married the daughter of an industrialist, Annie, who is also a concert pianist. This era was frustrating for Leifs because his works were seldom performed. Iceland's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1995

The young wannabe country singer Helen is terminally ill. Her biggest dream is to sing at the legendary Bluebird Café in Nashville, but through a chain of coincidences she ends up in Jamaica. At first, she has little to do with the locals and their music, but after a chaotic musical and emotional odyssey, Helen unexpectedly discovers her heart for reggae and sees her stay as an opportunity...

Lars, a male nurse from Saarbrücken, moves to Berlin with his lover, Roland. They begin to renovate an apartment and their happiness seems almost complete. What Roland doesn’t know is that, while secretly checking out Berlin’s night life, Lars is also experimenting with a deadly poison.

A Chinese troupe star and the Grand Duke's adjutant fall in love, to tensions from both sides' respective comrades.

Fourteen-year-old Kathi Lehner has been growing up with her father Robert and grandmother Hedwig since the death of her mother. Her neighbor is the elderly coachman Butzbichler and his horse Dublin. When Butzbichler has to go to the hospital after a traffic accident, Dublin is to be slaughtered. Kathi and her grandmother decide to buy the horse. They find a new home for the four-legged friend - at least until they can sell Dublin again. But then everything turns out quite differently.

The time is the French Revolution; the place is the village of Travers, ensconsed in neutral Switzerland. Prussian aesthete Herman Beyer is on the verge of divorcing wife Corinna Harfouch. Radical writer Uwe Kokisch, Corinna's lover, hopes to find a way of smoothing out animosities. What follows, however, is a nonstop drinking binge. The film subliminally addresses the then-prevalent issue of a divided Germany. Whether or not it succeeds is unimportant; Treffen in Travers (Reunion in Travers) has proven to be a crowd pleaser wherever it has been shown.

Since they graduated from school five years ago, the friends Jo and Kati have not seen one another. While one of them travels around the world and has arrived in India in the meantime, the other one is struggling with the final exams of the university. But five years are like blown away when Kati one day listens to a worrying message from her friend on her answering machine. Immediately, she drops everything and drives to her home village in order to gather together the old friends from her school days and to look for Jo in India.

Unusual race relations melodrama from West Germany follows a German sailor who meets and weds a Chinese woman while on leave in Hong Kong, only to meet with disapproval from his family and friends when the couple returns to Europe.

A blonde European girl is kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery in North Africa.

Prague, Bohemia, 1820. Balduin, a penniless student, falls in love with Countess Margit, a wealthy noblewoman whom he has saved from drowning.

Veteran film director Matty Bonkers, a Hollywood legend, arrives in Berlin for an honorary retrospective tribute. While introducing his film Mockery, he receives a phone call from his producer lying in intensive care at a hospital. Blau needs a favor for old times' sake. Could Matty finish a porn movie before his legs get broken by Tokyo Tony? Matty reluctantly agrees. On the set he meets movie star and ex-cello-player Inga - and the experience is bizarre spirited uplifting a comédie humaine.

Bits of found film and different types of animation illustrate a classic chase scene scenario: A woman is abducted and a man comes to her rescue, but during their escape they find themselves in the enemy's secret headquarters.

Berlin, Germany. A cruel murder took place in an appartment building. Somebody bit off quite a piece of the victim's penis, who then, of course, lost a lot of blood, before being struck down at the head. Leading investigator Bernhard Kominka, being in stress due to a mentally retarded son and a problematic wife, seems to be the only one to see a lady in a red coat. After a while, his theory of her being the murderer may prove to be true, but the Cop also kind of fell in love with this new, interesting person in both of his lives: professional and private as well. Borders dissolve. His decision may be disastrous in any way.

After oversleeping yet again, Alfons manages to catch the bus to his class trip to the Baltic Sea at the last minute. In his luggage: lots of adventure, funny pranks and - wait a minute - his mother's clothes?

Eight years after her daughter's disappearance, Clara hasn't given up hope. And when she recognizes her in a magazine photo, she sets out to find her, all the way to Sweden.

Accompanied by a cameraman, four friends go into the deep forests of Poland to shoot a documentary about their hobby: Geocaching, a modern form of treasure hunting.

On the street, students conduct surveys on the behavior of housewives.

After the death of his mother, shy Werner Schmidt finally starts looking for a partner. But on his dates, the electronics-enthusiastic, organized single man unfortunately only comes across as a bore - and consequently has no luck when it comes to love. The quiet man therefore relieves his stress at night by setting things on fire. He prefers to blow up luxury cars using his bomb-making skills and a remote-controlled car.

Theo is having some bad luck. His barely paid-for truck has been stolen, and credit collectors are after him. The chase leads him across Europe.

The story opens with Bica, a solvent abusing waif, trying in vain to evade the Romanian police with her infant brother in tow. Separated from her sibling she is taken to Germany, concealed in the trunk of a car. There she is trained as a thief, picking the pockets of strangers to fill those of her patron. One of her victims is the separated father of Milka, a brat with razor sharp tongue. From this unlikely start a friendship forms and Bica gets a glimpse into a world of material security, if not emotional closeness...

Alice has a fight on her hands. Against her breast cancer which makes her feel so helpless as she sees her body changing.

A couple, wants to realize their dream of having a child with a Ukrainian surrogate mother - and then the war comes.

He is a true Indian at heart, but on the outside, little, chubby and pale Max could hardly be further removed from the appearance of a Native American. Nevertheless, the ten-year-old feels connected to the Native American character like no other and promptly seizes the unique opportunity to audition as Winnetou's son at the Karl May Festival - with the support of his buddy Morten, of all people, even though he has absolutely no interest in Indians. He knows what an opportunity this is for Max: At the performance, the boy could finally emulate his idols and show everyone what he's made of. Max needs this, because his life is not easy: his father Torsten is a great guy, but unfortunately also a daydreamer who has let things slide. That's why Max's mother Birte has separated from him. But Max is confident: as the chief of the family, he will manage to bring them back together...

Ernest Wright's peerless prowess as a locksmith comes to the attention of a tough big-time crook, who feels that the little man would be a valuable asset to his crime kingdom. In order to inveigle him into a series of jobs, he sets up a beautiful hostess as a trap, into which the hapless Ernest inevitably falls..!

An impression of the state of the world in 1929, contrasting similarities and differences in religion, customs, art and entertainment from all over the world. The film is constructed like a symphony.

Both the machines and the staff at the bread factory run like clockwork.The girls are always on the go and their piece rate is bang on target. The new girl, however, number 423, is having a hard time getting to grips with the machines. She's fighting a losing battle, it seems. But we shall see who will win in the end.

Alex, Fedja, Timo and Lara are four troubled teens for whom the upcoming Christmas eve isn't a time of peace and joy: Since they all have a history of escalating family conflicts, they'll be spending the holidays not at home, but in a psychiatric ward. The utterly different adolescents not only have to adjust to one another, but also have to confront themselves in exhausting therapy sessions. Yet thanks to the unorthodox psychiatrist Dr. Wolf, the sessions take a turn for the unexpected - and the four experience a Christmas which they will never forget.

Scampolo is a young, poor girl who lives on the island of Ischia. She falls in love with a young architect who hopes to win a design competition. Scampolo intecedes on his behalf with the minister and helps him to make his dream come true.

Why is a person evil? Is evil in the genes? These questions have always preoccupied people. The approaches to explaining evil are as varied as evil itself. The latest science assumes that there are three factors that shape human behavior: genes, the environment and the individual situation. All three factors interact and influence each other. The film presents the latest research and addresses one of the most exciting questions in behavioral research.

Filmmaker Karim Aïnouz decides to take a boat, cross the Mediterranean, and embark on his first journey to Algeria. Accompanied by the memory of his mother, Iracema, and his camera, Aïnouz gives a detailed account of the journey to his father’s homeland, interweaving present, past, and future.

Scientist Martin Fellmann is tormented by an irrational fear of knives and the irresistible compulsion to murder his wife. Driven to the brink of madness by fantastic nightmares, he encounters a psychoanalyst who offers to treat the perplexing malady.

A story about a man named Max Wind, who celebrates a men‘s evening with his friends under the deck of a ship and leaves his pregnant girlfriend Nele at home. A storm is rising and the atmosphere below deck is tense. As Nele goes into shock from a lightning bolt hitting her house the situations start to escalate.

While investigating of a murder case, widowed police commissioner Lenders makes a confusing discovery; one of the victims comes from a different time. Did an implanted chip make this time travel possible? More victims follow. What is the motive behind the murders? And what is the connection between the victims? Can he use the chip to change his own life story?

After 50 years of service, the district usher Johann Peter Neusigl is supposed to get awarded a Royal-Bavarian medal of merit. Since government director Steinbeißl has announced that he wants to witness the awarding ceremony in person, district magistrate Kranzeder decided to splash out. He organises, with his wife Amalie, a banquet in their parlour, although both of them rather begrudge Neusigl the award. But after all, it is necessary to cut a good figure for the dignitaries. As the government director arrives, after a few incidents during his journey, belated, the event, however, has already degenerated into a boozy carousal which culminates in a scuffle.

American German teacher Andrea Flanegan and computer game developer Kai Westerburg become entangled in the mystery of a stolen computer chip and the computer murders that Westerburg's boss Herbert Wilhelm Peters is apparently carrying out with its help. The search for Peters turns into a wild chase in a society that considers computer murders unthinkable and also becomes an existential threat for Westerburg and Flanegan...

Nils Lovelorn, blessed with a present ego and a "second self" in the form of a well-rounded super blonde called Bebe, is sent back in time by time machine. There he is to blow out the lights of a pharaoh who, 3000 years later, threatens the world with destruction as a demon. Unfortunately, his feminine second half occasionally gains the upper hand and, to make matters worse, falls in love with the blood-sucking, evil pharaoh.

Ebbo and Vera Velten have spent the better part of the past twenty years living in different African countries. Ebbo is the manager of a sleeping sickness programme. His work is fulfilling. Vera, however, feels increasingly lost in Yaounde’s ex-pat community. She can’t bear the separation from her 14-year-old daughter, Helen, who is attending boarding school in Germany. Ebbo must give up his life in Africa or he risks losing the woman he loves. But his fear of returning to a land now remote to him increases with each passing day. Years later. Alex Nzila, a young French doctor of Congolese origin, travels to Cameroon to evaluate a development project. It’s been a long time since he set foot on this continent, but, instead of finding new prospects, he encounters a destructive, lost man. Like a phantom, Ebbo slips away from his evaluator.

In a magicians’ private stand-off, two practitioners must brave tricky challenges to demonstrate a hidden ability. They conjure animal illusions, consume light bulbs, and face the choice between antagonism and friendship.

Driven by the promise of a new life, Jessica and her best friend Laila left for Syria to join Daech. But when they arrive, they find themselves locked up in a women’s house run by the authoritarian and charismatic Madame.

Young detective Ria Larsen is faced with the question of how serial killer Wernicke, who is imprisoned in a psychiatric ward, instructs brutal murders on the Husum coast. The bodies in the dunes point to a copy killer. During the investigation, Ria suddenly finds herself in a race against time and in a dangerous mind game with a ritual killer who has already destroyed the life of her predecessor.

Although he already has searched Iraq unsuccessfully for weapons of mass destruction as a member of a UN mission, German bio-weapons expert Arndt Wolf is still obsessed with the idea that Saddam Hussein is hiding something. Nobody around him is interested in this topic any more. This changes abruptly when an Iraqi asylum seeker claims to have been involved in the manufacture of chemical weapons. The German Federal Intelligence Service summons Dr. Wolf to ascertain the legitimacy of the claims made by the informant, who has been given the code name “Curveball”.

August 1961: To earn a bit of West German money, East Berlin "plaselayer" Hans Kuhlke smuggles scrap metal to his friend Erwin Sawatzke in West Berlin. One evening, he and his wife are invited to the Sawatzkes' house. Meanwhile, their son Paul stays with a friend in East Berlin. On this summer night, the political situation in Berlin comes to a dramatic head: the borders are closed and the construction of the Wall is initiated. The disappearance of his parents leaves 14-year-old pioneer Paul torn between family ties and loyalty to the party. At the last second, he sees through his role in the system and is taken in by his piano teacher. Together they plan their escape to the West - but it turns into a race against time.

The master thief Laura faces her ultimate challenge: she must outmaneuver the relentless policewoman Maxine in a dangerous, passionate game of cat-and-mouse, while a sadistic killer marks her for death

A scientist invents a serum that keeps a dog's head alive after its body dies. When the scientist dies of a heart attack, his crazed assistant cuts off his head and, using the serum, keeps the doctor's head alive and forces it to help him on an experiment to give his hunchbacked nurse assistant a new body.

In a fictitious European city known as Padukgrad, where a government arises following the rise of a philosophy known as "Ekwilism", which discourages the idea of anyone being different from anyone else, and promotes the state as the prominent good in society.

Two sisters who couldn't be more different are unaware of their father's double life with two families and the existence of the other until his sudden death. While stuffy Sandra has no need for such a relationship, chaotic Sandy never leaves her new-found sister's side.

While life in a provincial town in eastern Germany near the Polish border has virtually come to a standstill, a dynamic young entrepreneur, his wife, and a laconic, resigned dropout strive to make a new start. But their dreams of revitalizing the region with a train station bistro and spa business fade away in (self-)deception, hangovers, and small escapes.

In the 70s Matteusz Gdula invented an acting method that was supposed to make every actor “shine”. Still, lots of his students die mysteriously and Gdula commits suicide. His method gets banned. Now: Stella, an ambitious, but rather untalented drama student, gets accepted at the „Matteusz Gdula“-school. When she bears witness to some strange occurrences, she gets drawn into the bizarre and deadly web that surrounds the dark secret of the school...