German journalist Philip Winter has a case of writer’s block when trying to write an article about the United States. He decides to return to Germany, and while trying to book a flight, encounters a German woman and her nine year old daughter Alice doing the same. The three become friends (almost out of necessity) and while the mother asks Winter to mind Alice temporarily, it quickly becomes apparent that Alice will be his responsibility for longer than he expected.
Henri is a lonely, isolated young man who lets no one get close to him. He meets a street hustler and comes out of his shell, going 180 degrees into gay obsession. Though he has yet to physically approach the object of his affection, Henri builds up so much unrequited lust that it explodes with horrible results.
Six days in the life of Wilhelm: a detached man without qualities. He wants to write, so his mother gives him a ticket to Bonn, telling him to live. On the train he meets an older man, an athlete in the 1936 Olympics, and his mute teen companion, Mignon. She's an acrobat in market squares for spare change.
Itinerant projection-equipment repairman Bruno Winter and depressed hitchhiker Robert Lander - a doctor who has just been through a break-up with his wife and a half-hearted suicide attempt - travel along the Western side of the East-German border in a repair truck, visiting worn-out movie theaters, learning to communicate across their differences.
In 2043, Frank and Xaver have only one big problem with their jobs at a patent office, their boss Dr. Kneitz who's mission it is to make their life miserable. But then an unique opportunity presents itself when an inventor shows up to patent a time machine and they come up with a plan to travel back in time to stop the conceiving of their boss. Accidently Ronny, a night watchman, happens to be in the room with them when they use the time machine and so, in part unwillingly, the 3 of them travel to the year 1988 in Gran Canaria and they only have a couple of days to stop every interaction with potential fathers for the mother to be.
Tom Ripley, an American who deals in forged art, is slighted at an auction in Hamburg by picture framer Jonathan Zimmerman. When Ripley is asked by gangster Raoul Minot to kill a rival, he suggests Zimmerman, and the two, exploiting Zimmerman's terminal illness, coerce him into being a hitman.
Actors Rüdiger Vogler, Hanns Zischler and Lisa Kreuzer reflect on their work in front of the Robby Müller’s camera for Wim Wender’s seminal road movie KINGS OF THE ROAD (Im Lauf der Zeit, 1976).
Bavaria, Germany, 1950s. The sudden return of the young Kathrin to the small village where she was born stirs up the feelings of guilt and personal ghosts of its inhabitants, haunted by dark memories related to a multiple murder that happened two years earlier at the Tannöd farm, a hideous crime that remains unsolved.
A bearded director named EVA, a fictive Rainer Werner Fassbinder, lives in a large house with his cast and crew as he films Dumas' Lady of the Camellias. His accountant informs him he has many unpaid bills and little cash on hand. EVA throws a fit and fires him. He then proceeds to play one person off against another, dismiss with cruelty his recent lover Ali, sleep openly with his leading lady Gudrun, and make a direct and public play for his leading man, Walter. He's mercurial, dictatorial, and manic. Will he finish the film, having drawn great performances from his actors through his manipulations, or will his antics set events in motion that spin out of his control?
A London radio DJ receives news of his brother's suicide and travels west to Bristol to find out more.
In her teens, Mme. Zachanassian had to flee her home town in disgrace. Now she's old and rich and the town is facing bankruptcy. But she returns with news that she wants to help - as long as the townsfolk kill someone for her.
The police psychologist Jo is supposed to help catch the sex offender Molesch. Since the hotel is fully booked, she stays with her old college friend Vera and her husband Bruno. It turns out that Vera and Jo used to be in love with the same man. The two women's musings are interrupted when Molesch suddenly appears in the garden.
Eleven years ago, an 8-year-old girl disappeared from a small German town on the German-Czech border. Although her body was never found, nor were there any traces of blood or DNA evidence, a mentally-disabled man was coerced to confess to the crime. Even though he withdrew his admission of guilt two days later, the forced confession was enough to convince the ruling judge. The responsible investigator Altendorf was discharged so that the investigation could be sped along by another colleague.
"Hangar" is a new agency whose purpose is to carry out missions even too sensitive for the police or intelligence services. The agency must eliminate a German female terrorist by the name of Birgitt Haas. The murder is to be disguised as a crime of passion, so an agent must lure Birgitt into falling in love.
After attending a wedding on a steamboat traveling down the river Spree, three friends from Hamburg become stranded in a newly reunified Berlin. They begin a restless odyssey through the wastelands of a metropolis wavering between an unpredictable future and a lingering past
Fun-loving Anna and her brittle lodger Mr. Kurtz are already living under the same roof as an old married couple. The balance of opposites threatens to tip when Anna's helper syndrome kicks in twice. Her friend Gundi, who has injured her knee, needs help with her everyday life and a barrier-free home, but she can hardly afford a new apartment on her meagre pension. Anna's ex Willi needs a place to stay even more urgently. Soon there is the danger of a senior citizens' flat share.
Follows "Live is Life" aka "Die Spätzünder".
36-year-old Birgit desires nothing more than an intact family. Since she lives with her husband Andreas, the common child Philip and Sarah, her daughter from a previous, failed relationship in solid economic conditions in a terraced house, she feels very close to her ideal. Through Sarah's puberty, the family is put to the test. But Birgit believes that luckily only the formal confirmation of the adoption of Sarah by Andreas is missing.
A West Berlin doctor, married with a two-year-old child, leaves her husband to go to Munich to work in the birth clinic of a hospital. Her husband doesn’t know that she’s pregnant with their second child. Will she have to choose between motherhood and her career?
Father and mother are thrilled: So now their teenager son has a girlfriend. And what a fabulous young woman she is! In contrast to his older sister Milli, 17-year-old Franz was previously an introverted, quiet, shy loner. His parents are all the more impressed when he brings home the pretty, self-confident Zoe one night. Zoe quickly finds her way into the heart of Franz’s family. Or is this young woman just telling people what they want to hear because she sees their hidden desires? After an ecstatic night in the clubs of the city of Munich with a little too much drugs, Zoe has disappeared and Franz's heart is broken. He absolutely has to see her again and goes looking for his first great love.
The story of Elly Beinhorn, the first German aviator ever to fly around the world which made her a national hero in the 1930s.
Glaciologist Carlo and the mayor's daughter Lisa have barely been married when their marriage is put to the test. Lisa and her father are planning a ski lift on the nearby glacier, although there are growing signs that a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions is looming deep inside. But an admonisher like Carlo only disrupts business. And so the tactically shrewd businessman and mayor instrumentalizes his own daughter against his hated son-in-law. Carlo's arch-rival Markus, of all people, offers to dive down into the glacier with Carlo via the meltwater channels in order to prove his suspicions and initiate rescue measures - a life-threatening operation that requires blind trust...
Two beautiful young women kill men in a villa in Tuscany: Maya and Cora have been friends since childhood. Maya has an alcoholic artist father who deserted the family, a mentally disturbed mother and a violent brother, Carlo. Cora is from a wealthy middle-class family. Cora helps Maya to poison Carlo's friend Detlef, who is threatening to blackmail her. They then kill Carlo when he tries to rape Cora. Cora's family takes Maya in, and a happy time begins for her, particularly when they spend the summer in Italy.
The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.
An American general with highly confidential defence information has been kidnapped by terrorists and is being held in a cliff-top fortress in the Mediterranean.
In 1820, Tyrolean surveyor Josef Naus set off for the Zugspitze region to map the area. "Gipfelsturm" is about the resistance he has to overcome before he can successfully climb the Zugspitze and how he finds the love of his life.
It is a terrible disaster! Due to a series of wrong decisions, the ferry Castor gets caught in a sea storm and sinks. The tragedy is already foreshadowed in small details: first there is an hour-long delay before departure, then some trucks are not properly secured and on the bridge there is a heated discussion between Captain Eriksen and his deputy van Damme about how to deal with the storm warning received. The captain's sudden heart attack complicates the situation. The next day, it is learned ashore that the Castor has sunk. Herwegh, the head of the commission of inquiry, then tries to find out who is morally responsible for the disaster and who the real culprits are. In the process, several human dramas unfold...
Pastor Hund is horrified: a woman is now in charge of Pfullendorf. The arch-conservative man of God wants to put every stone in Dorothee Auer's path. He doesn't have to look far: Unsuspectingly, the mayor has offered the new business park to a dubious entrepreneur. That could cost her her job! But the lady has something else up her sleeve...
Pierre earns his money in an unusual way. Together with Dr. Schumann, he helps people die. Schumann is the agent, and Pierre takes care of the jobs. But one day Pierre starts to think about what they are actually doing. Then he meets Silvie, who happens to be one of Dr. Schumann's "patients", and the situation takes a serious turn.
When the corpse of student Heike is found, the police book it as a case of suicide. But Heike's girlfriend Wiebke thinks otherwise. She believes that the Satan disciples are involved in the case.
Retired dentist Almuth Seegers sells her practice at 65 and feels lost and emotionally distant, even from her mother in a nursing home. Her newly hired cleaning lady, Rita Ritter, a vivacious East German with a terrier, disrupts Almuth’s isolation. As their worlds collide, Almuth’s rigid reserve meets Rita’s warmth, sparking an unlikely friendship that challenges Almuth to confront her long-suppressed emotions.
Young songwriter Julika Stetten feels burned out. Listless and unmotivated, she nevertheless feels compelled to meet the deadlines for the project she is currently working on. In search of a place that offers her the peace and quiet she so desperately needs to complete her work, she remembers her father's country house. He had bought the house near Lake Chiemsee at auction over 20 years ago. It had been uninhabited ever since. Fascinated, she listens to the stories of the caretaker Georg as she takes possession of the house. She is determined to stay in this very place and continue her work.
The lives of the surviving members of the Basileus Quartet, a chamber group that has been playing successfully around the world for more than 30 years, are turned upside down after the death of the leader, Oscar Guarneri. The three aging musicians decide to split up to pursue those pleasures they've denied themselves too long.
Six numbers in the lottery! If that's not good luck for Georg Freudenreich and fellow winner and brother-in-law Heinrich. This distracts from the feelings Heinrich has suppressed all his life. He has fallen in love with Edward. But now, at over 70, how is he supposed to live a love he has always denied himself?
The young Laura actually has a bright future ahead of her: She marries Alec Haverstock, the man she loves as she has never loved anyone before. But Laura has no idea that Alec's past has a flaw that will soon overshadow her young happiness. On a trip to see Alec's relatives in Cornwall, she embarks on a search for the ominous traces of the past. And she gets into dramatic entanglements that threaten her life.
At Kingscove Manor, Emma ,the aunt of Rachel falls in the stairs and sprains her ankle.So she needs the help of Rachel to manage the manor.Some years ago Rachel loved deeply Luke Folder whose wife died by suicide.Rachel arrives at Kingscove and meets with Luke telling him that their love is impossible.When she goes to the village all people are looking at her curiously.At the harbor she meets with Reverend Michael who tells her that Luke still loves her and that she must be patient.Mary, the mother-in-law of Luke reproaches him the death of her daughter Tara.Also when Rachel meets Mary she reproaches Rachel the death of Tara.Rachel and Luke fall again in love.One day Rachel has an appointment with Mr. Ripley and finds him dead in his house.Mary accuses Rachel to be responsible of the this death.
The police officer Sabrina has been given a special assignment : She is to investigate undercover in an orphanage run by nuns and meets Tom, an attractive architect . Several attacks on the matron were carried out in the orphanage . Sabrina begins her investigation and posesamazed that she and the architect went to the same boarding school together . But why did he pose under a false name ? Sabrina wonders why Tom lied to the nuns to gain their trust . She finds out that he is looking for his motherput him up for adoption as a baby . He suspects that it is the matron .
Prince Tamino and his companions are chasing a magnificent boar. Caught up in the excitement of the hunt, Prince Tamino ignores all warnings and fails to notice that he is approaching the end of the world.
A husband has to cope with his wife being comatose after an accident.
Episode movie about the no-future generation of the early 1980s.
A darkly comedic exploration of personal struggle and societal pressure, we follow the story of a middle-aged man named Max, who is trapped in a life of monotony and frustration. After a series of unexpected events, Max finds himself in increasingly absurd and challenging situations, forcing him to confront his own limitations and fears. With sharp humor and a critique of societal expectations, the film delves into the pressures that shape our lives and the lengths we go to in order to break free from them. A poignant yet quirky tale about bending to life's demands or breaking under the weight of it all.
After a long stay in the clinic, Natalie Schneider returns home. When her friend Annemarie secretly sleeps at the Schneider's and steals money from Peter, a scandal breaks out. Natalie takes the train to Frankfurt.
Two interconnected stories in the 1930s, one set in Berlin, the other in Palestine: Mania Vilbouchevich Shohat (1880-1961), called Tania, a Russian Jew and revolutionary, goes from Minsk to Palestine to live on a collective. She promotes feminism and laments a shift in the men from self-defense to aggression. Her friend, Else Lasker-Schuler (1869 - 1945), expressionist poet and German Jew, is in Berlin, writing, caring for her son, watching Hitler's movement take power. She goes to Jerusalem and imagines a park for Arab and Jew. Her poems, voiced from within, capture her experience. The film meditates on the violence at the root of Israel's birth: of the Nazis and of the Zionists.
The children Sonja and Helmut Schmitt have lost their parents in a car accident. At first, their grandmother takes over the supervision and care of the two. When she no longer can take care of that due to her health, mayor and brewery operator Gassner provides them a new home. By doing this, he secures respect and approval in the village. What really happened isn’t suspected by anyone: The egocentric Gassner let his underage daughter drive his deregistered, medium-green old Mercedes. During that ride without a license, she caused the accident and forced her father to do an outwardly “good deed”. Because, if the truth came to light, Gassner would have to fear a defeat in the upcoming mayoral elections and damage to his reputation.
A French industrialist, Bernard Corain, who frequently travels on business to the German Democratic Republic, is contacted by the SDECE to establish a "relationship" with a high-ranking East German official who wishes to leave his country clandestinely... Although risky and even dangerous, the case seems, at first glance, quite straightforward...
Anywhere in the world, 20 years from now. Underground. Watch out for the signs...
Young Amelia learns from her mother Magda that she was adopted as a baby. Her biological parents are from Ireland. When Magda dies of a heart attack shortly afterwards, Amelia feels that nothing is keeping her in Germany anymore. She leaves the bookshop she inherited and her bewildered fiancé and sets off headlong to find her real family on the Emerald Isle. Upon arriving in Ireland, something magical happens to the young woman. Amelia follows the mysterious clues. This leads her to meet the attractive private detective Bobby.
The happily married judge Susanne has been carrying a secret with her for many years. As a 17-year-old, she released her baby for adoption. But a letter now confronts them with the past: Paolo, the Italian father of her girl, has died and has inherited his house in Tuscany to the unknown daughter. Despite better knowledge, Susanne sets out in search of her lost daughter - endangering the happiness of two families.
A woman is being taken from her German hotel to be interrogated by police agents.
A commissioned work for a television series on WDR, A House for Us. FROM THE FAMILY OF REPTILES and THE ISLAND are a complete program in two episodes. Monika manages to convince Mr. and Mrs. Hagedorn that their daughter is not mischievous or insidious but that her parents should consult a Psychotherapist with her. But as usual all the therapists are booked out and have a long waiting list for patients. So Ute is left alone once more with her helpless parents and she is more and more drawn to the zoo and her beloved crocodiles. Thanks to Monika’s sense of responsibility and her commitment, Ute manages to break free from her isolation.
A commissioned work for a television series on WDR, A House for Us. FROM THE FAMILY OF REPTILES and THE ISLAND are a complete program in two episodes. After all with Michael Ballhaus as the cinematographer. Ute (Katja Wulff), an 8 year old girl, constantly runs away from home and the youth center to escape into her own world. She spends many hours at the zoo and especially in front of the crocodil compound. Monika Brehm (Lisa Kreuzer), the kindergarten teacher, tries to find an entrance into Ute’s world. She realizes that her escapes are a form of withdrawal from her parents and the grown up world.
An old man and a teenage boy, both neo-nazis are travelling across Germany to take funds to the party headquarters. On the way they encounter a young woman and things become difficult.
An unusual story of a triangular relationship in Vienna. A woman shares an apartment with a man named Malina. The woman meets Ivan and falls under his spell. It will be her last great passion. Her feelings are so strong and all-encompassing that Ivan can neither understand nor return them.
A greying company boss from a Bavarian town falls in love with a tropical beauty. For his seventieth birthday, his two children want to give their father something special and surprise company boss Clemens Filzhofer with a vacation to Cuba. "Nobody needs a trip like that," grumbles the fussy senior from the small Bavarian town. Far from it: when the widowed patriarch returns from the tropics, he introduces his new, much younger girlfriend Esperanza to the baffled clan. And they are to be married in a month's time.
Documentary about the film Alice in the cities.
Actors Rüdiger Vogler and Lisa Kreuzer reflect on their work in front of the Robby Müller’s camera for Wim Wender’s seminal road movie WRONG MOVE (1975).
The early films of Wim Wenders are now regarded as landmarks of European film. Alice in the Cities, Wrong Move and Kings of the Road became foundations of the German New Wave and cemented the reputation of their director. In One Who Set Forth: Wim Wenders' Early Years Marcel Wehn explores the background to these films. Through personal recollection and rare home movie footage, it documents the director's early life, from experiments with his first camera, via his deviation from a career in medicine in favour of art and film, through to international recognition for the Road Trilogy. Central to these were themes that became cornerstones of all his work: national identity, the importance of personal relationships and the allure of the road. With contributions from the director and the many collaborators who helped define his vision, One Who Set Forth is a compelling account of Wim Wenders' life and work.
Quirin has the cuddly Anna Hechenbacher come to the house. Quirin and his godfather choose a genuine Parisian woman from her catalog of marriageable women to turn the widowed Jakob's head.
On December 23, you can meet Santa Claus almost anywhere - even on the Berlin-Bayern long-distance bus. But driver Robert, himself wearing a Santa hat, doesn't promise any presents. 25-year-old Felix, a new Berliner, is on his way to snowy Mittenwald to celebrate Christmas with his family and girlfriend. He is already planning his personal present: a marriage proposal to his girlfriend Saskia. But shortly before departure, a mishap occurs - the engagement ring goes missing. Felix's seatmate Hanna, who is also traveling to Mittenwald to spend the party with her grandmother, has just ended a relationship. The freedom-loving Hanna begins a casual flirtation with Felix, of all people, who is in a long-term relationship and doesn't at all fit in with her prey scheme. Over the next few years, their paths cross again on the Christmas drive home.