Jaecki Schwarz

Her Third

In this East German film, the third one in The Third is Margit's third lover. After her mother's death, Margit has two affairs which don't work out, and one lesbian friendship which she retains. She is looking for a husband, though, and thinks she has spotted a candidate in her fellow factory worker. As she contemplates marrying him, her story is told in a series of flashbacks.

Go Trabi Go 2: Those Were the Days of the Wild East

Elated by the Italian attitude to life, family Struutz returns to Bitterfeld and experiences a shock: In the turmoil of the reunification her house must give way to a golf course. Hope Udo teacher, his wife Rita and daughter Jacqueline through the surprising inheritance of a factory near Dresden. But of market economy, the staid Saxons unfortunately have no idea. Help comes in the guise of adventurer and condoms dealer Charlie, who works as a "business consultant" and gives Udo a Rock & Roll crash course in capitalism - with unsurpassed success.

The Blue Light

Hans the farmer is drawn into war as a soldier. Returning from the front, having been defrauded of his pay by his own king, he makes his way home. On his trip, he encounters a witch who asks him to fetch the light from a spring. He keeps it when the witch tries to deceive him and he discovers her foul magic. When the light is ignited, a little man appears who must serve the owner of the light, but it only has power if the owner has faith in himself. His courage bolstered, Hans goes to the king once more to demand his wages be paid.

Schneemann sucht Schneefrau

Joe Müller, a single father, is electrified: in front of him stands an outraged woman who insults him badly. Still, he falls in love. As it turns out: not exactly the right one. Tessa, who is in the hospital with her son, is upset because her counterpart does not apologize for the accident caused by his daughter. But then she also finds Joe more than just nice. When Joe finds out that the magical Tessa is the new, ambitious CEO of the architectural firm "Planfactory", who has given him notice without even knowing him, he plans a revenge campaign.

Long Roads - Secret Love

Long-haul driver Hannes (Manfred Krug) picks up a young hitchhiker, Herb (Jaecki Schwarz), who had a falling-out with his parents after dropping out of college and now travels around doing odd jobs. After a series of adventures, they are joined by Johanna (Jutta Hoffmann) and her child, who missed their bus and need a ride to Berlin. Johanna has left her husband so that he can reflect on their broken relationship and both men gradually begin to fall in love with her.

Sleeping Beauty

On the occasion of their daughter's birth, the king and queen give a lavish feast. Among the guests are twelve fairies who endow the infant in the cradle with all good qualities. As the king loathes diligence, he does not invite the thirteenth fairy - the fairy of diligence. A captain lets her slip into the castle and she casts a spell on Sleeping Beauty, wishing death upon her. The twelfth fairy transforms and mitigates the spell. On the day she turns fifteen, the princess is to sink into a hundred-year sleep after pricking her finger on a spindle.

Großes Kino made in DDR

In 2016, DEFA celebrates its 70th anniversary: the film embarks on a journey into the exciting film history of the GDR. In a comprehensive kaleidoscope, the importance of DEFA productions is illuminated, the relevance of the films as propaganda productions for the GDR, which socio-political themes were in the foreground, but also which heroes DEFA brought to the screen and celebrated as people from the people.

Schulmeister Spitzbart

1831. A village schoolteacher Matthias Spitzbart dreams of the ideal school and writes a textbook on the perfect educational institution. When he becomes principal of a grammar school by chance, he puts his ideas into practice. His almost missionary-like zeal blossoms in wondrous ways, but his family idyll is deceptive. Entangled in his activities, Spitzbart fails to see his wife's affair with pro-rector Mehlmann, daughter Friederike flirts with the trainee teacher, and son Michael's misdeeds are enough to make a mockery of his efforts at exemplary behavior. Teachers, parents and the mayor are of the opinion that he has upset everything that worked before: he is dismissed...

On Probation

Nina Kern, a divorced woman in her late twenties, will soon be fully deprived of her custody rights for her three children, who already reside in a home for the displaced due to Nina’s many years of willful neglect. Although she has broken her promise to change her moral conduct many times, she is given one last chance on probation.

Two Strange Characters

The two computer specialists Frank and Kamminke are not the type of citizens the party likes. Thus they are sent to the landscape where they still find enough stuff to do: They repair the software of a western type factory which is currently not working.

The Thing in the Castle

A senior professor is kidnapped in the park by residents of a veterans home. Once there, he is asked to invent a "rejuvenating machine" to restore their youth.

Rosen-Emil

The ex-gymnast and survival artist Emil falls in love with the prostitute Lissy. Through her he meets some criminals whom he can help thanks to his gymnastic skills. But on his rise in the criminal hierarchy, Lissy might fall by the wayside.

Burning Life

Anna and Lisa, two young women, meet by chance in the vestibule of a bank, and decide after that to go on together leaving a successful trail of bank-robberies through Germany.

The Tango Player

Winter 1968. Historian Dr. Dallow is released from prison. He is still trying to cope with and understand why he was put behind bars for 21 months for defamation of the state. His supposed "crime:" for five minutes he accompanied a cabaret chanson on the piano. The film shows what "ordinary socialism" was like, letting the audience feel the threat under which the people in the GDR had to live over many years.

Ein Hauptgewinn für Papa

It's clear to the children: single dad Peter and his colleague Anja belong together. But the widower is too scatterbrained, and when he wins a sports car in a competition, he finds himself in bad company: with the car, he attracts the attention of the glamorous but ice-cold PR snipe Xenia...

Ernst Thälmann

This elaborate two-part television film features a section from the life of communist worker leader Ernst Thälmann. It begins with the bloody riots on May 1, 1929 in Berlin, in which police officers shot at demonstrating workers, and ends with February 7, 1933, when Thälmann appeared as a speaker at the illegal meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Germany in goat neck. This period was marked by the struggle of the Communists against the ever stronger National Socialists and the rise of Adolf Hitler.

The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes

Television adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairytale.

Lützower

During the Napoleanic Wars, members of the Prussian Lützow Free Corps steal a French war chest from the house of collaborator Kerstinn, but their captain Friesen is captured and sentenced to death. But Friesen is saved by French Sergeant Fleuron and they flee the occupied city together. Kerstinn's daughter Marie is disgusted by her father's disloyalty and has also fallen in love with Friesen. When she learns about a trap that is being set for Lützow Free Corps, she sets out to warn them with the help of her father's clerk Püttchen, a Lützow sympathizer.

Ein Sack voll Geld

Nice gift: Shortly before Christmas loses parcel delivery Wolfgang Paschke the debit card, the driver's license and his job. Famously, he also stumbles on a money bag, but a little later he is gone again. Great excitement before the festival!

Fariaho

The puppet player Sebastian Fußberg moves through the country at the end of the fifties. Despite his age, an unwavering dreamer and idealist. But also a torn person who cannot detach himself from the shadows of his past.

Island of Light

Nora Bernd is a popular "lifestyle consultant" on television: in her programme she gets people to talk about their problems, helps them find a way to resolve their crises and provides practical advice and suggestions. Nobody knows that although Nora can come up with answers to other people easily enough, her own life is a mess. Many years ago she walked out on her husband Heiner and her daughter Jenny.

Ich will da sein - Jenny Gröllmann

The film accompanies Jenny Gröllmann, a German actress, during the last two years of her life.

Reine Formsache

Marriage or not, that is the basic question! For Felix is marriage more like a game of roulette, but his wife Pola don't agree with him and wants a divorce. But getting the divorce isn't that easy.

Everything's a Lie

Erich Kasulke and Rudolf Portmann are comedian stars of the former GDR. When the Wall falls, so does their success. Portmann becomes a successful businessman, while Kasulke tries to continue working on the comedy circuit - without success. When his wife also cheats on him, he decides to start a new life in Berlin. There he quickly meets his old friend Portmann, who has built up a huge company. He offers him a job. But Erich puts the entire company in danger...

Cascade Backwards

Maja Wegner is in her late thirties and a single mother of a teenage daughter. To give her stale life a new direction, she decides to start all over again in the big city. She sells her house in the countryside, quits her job, and moves with her daughter to Berlin. There, she finds a job as a conductor for the railroad company. Although Maja soon finds new friends in her apartment building, the search for a new life partner does not come off so easily.

Die Gänse von Bützow

In 1794 Bützow, widow Hornborstel, a top goose breeder, presses Mayor Hane to marry her. Rebuffed, he bans free‐range geese under a “goose edict.” Enraged, she enlists revolutionary‐minded Magister Albus to rally citizens. They rise for goose freedom, the duke deposes Hane, installs a new mayor, and Albus escapes across the border.

Einfach Blumen aufs Dach

Mechanic Hannes Blaschke and his wife Maxi, who works as a bus driver, have just become happy parents of twins. Now they have a serious transportation problem: Their Trabant is far too small for the grown family that furthermore includes two sons and a dog. Thanks to the support of a state secretary and of his brigade, Hannes acquires a Tschaika – a limousine that is normally restricted to representational purposes – for a small price. Whereas Maxi views the state carriage only as a useful means of transportation, Hannes enjoys the unusual pre-emption he is receiving for the spectacular car. Hannes, who normally is just a humble guy, starts to grate his colleagues with his new affectations. Thus, they teach him an effective lesson: They decorate the state carriage with flowers and thus bring Hannes back down to earth in a humorous way.

All My Girls

Ralf Paeschke is a film student who has to make a documentary film about a group of women working in a lamp factory. There is brazen Susie, mischievous Kerstin, lonely Anita, single Ella, withdrawn Gertrud and the imposing forewoman. When Kerstin is suspected of stealing, tension among the women mounts. Ralf demands that things be clarified, and his film plays an unexpected role in the matter.

Du und ich und Klein-Paris

When Angelika moves to Leipzig, she is forced to rent a room at Mrs. Häublein’s for a start, since her parents will not follow until a few months later. Fellow tenant Thomas, a philosophy student, is not at all enthused about his new, pretty housemate. Because of Angelika he has to move into a smaller room. Furthermore, he is annoyed at her many male acquaintances, without sensing that his aggression might be prompted by jealousy. When Angelika’s father comes for a visit, he asks Thomas to keep an eye on his daughter. Thomas takes this assignment very seriously and finally realizes that he has fallen in love with Angelika.

Verliebte Diebe

After a successful coup in a luxury hotel in Lichtenstein, the jewel-thief Claire hardly dares her eyes: among the guests are her old "colleague" and former lover Vinzenz Kröger, who now leads a middle-class life. Actually, Claire does not want to have anything to do with the charming rascal. However, he is not ready to let Claire disappear again after he has finally found her again. From a spectacular jewel robbery to sophisticated arrogance, the duo experiences a lot of turbulence - and the emotional life of the two gets really up in the air ...

The Keys

During their holiday in Kraków, a young worker and a student are asked if their love, despite different views on life, will endure.

Driving School

In the GDR, purchasing a car was such a difficult process that many families applied for one years in advance. For example, Gisela secretly orders a Wartburg model after the birth of her first child. By the time the vehicle is ready, her daughter is a teenager, and Gisela's husband, who actually prefers walking, has already bought a second Wartburg from a friend in financial trouble. As a result, the couple decides to sign up for driving school together.

The Naked Man in the Stadium

In this film, Wolf and scriptwriter Wolfgang Kohlhaase explore the role of art and the artist in socialist society. A sculptor questions the reception and value of his work, in a delicately nuanced narrative interweaving personal memories, historical dilemmas, and political defeats.

Spreebogen

As Bonn readies for the government’s move to Berlin, Minister Bartels and his team privately stall plans due to personal ties to Bonn. Mayor Struvitz arrives with a deed claiming their small town owns key Berlin land, proposing a swap: the prime Spreebogen plot for federal support to save local jobs. His gambit forces Bonn officials to confront both political process and pride.

I Was Nineteen

A young soldier enters Germany with Soviet troops at the end of WWII, feeling like a stranger in his homeland. As he meets Germans, he grapples with his ambivalence, realizing he is both a victor and one of the vanquished. His inquisitive nature leads him to confront the atrocities and lies he encounters along the way.

Rabbit Heart

The thirteen year old Janni is depressed, because she's still a little behind in her physical development. This leads to bullying remarks from her classmates. One day, a film crew comes to her school to find a candidate for the role of a Prince in a movie. They choose Janni, who they think is a boy. She takes on the role. At school, she tells her classmates she plays a Princess. When the moment of truth approaches she must find the self-confidence to invite the class to the premiere.

Despite It All!

October 1918: Karl Liebknecht is released from prison and Berlin workers celebrate his release. Although WWI is almost over, the German Kaiserreich in vain sends its last reserves to the slaughter. The working class is in a rebellious mood; the uprising of Kiel’s sailors against war and militarism sets off a call for revolution led by Liebknecht. On November 9, Liebknecht declares the Free Socialist Republic of Germany. But pro-Kaiser military and right wing Social Democrats oppose him.

Ein Gauner Gottes

After 20 years, carpenter Johannes Keinath returns to his hometown on Lake Constance. When he fights off two crooks during a robbery, he believes he has fatally injured one of them.

Hilfe, meine Tochter heiratet

Shortly before Christmas, Dresden lawyer Julius Weimann is expecting his beloved daughter Julia. The 19-year-old has been in the USA for a year. When he picks her up from the plane with her godfather Harald Mauthe and takes her into his arms, he realizes that the "little polar bear" has become a young woman. To Julius' surprise, she has brought the man of her dreams with her from the States, whom she wants to marry at Christmas. Thomas Berner is an event manager from Dresden and fifteen years older than Julia! When Julia realizes that her father has hired a private detective to keep tabs on her fiancé, it causes a rift between father and daughter. With a heavy heart, Julius finally comes to accept his future son-in-law, and after clearing up a misunderstanding, the two men even become friends. But then Julia gets cold feet and breaks up with Thomas.

Ein Engel namens Hans-Dieter

Hans-Dieter Anhäuser, owner of a joke articles factory, is a creep. He cheats on his wife, neglects his children, bullies his employees - and all just before Christmas. But then he has an accident, falls into a coma and experiences his own funeral in a dream. In the process, he learns what everyone really thinks of him. To make matters worse, he meets his deceased father-in-law, the former factory owner, who tells him that he, Hans-Dieter, has one last chance. If he doesn't manage to make his family happy by Christmas, he will send him to hell on Christmas Eve.

Rotlicht

Helmut Zierl fights against organized crime and for a woman.

Ich klage an

1984 in the GDR. Jürgen and Vera Färber spend their vacation with their children Martha and Mischa in the eastern Harz Mountains. Shortly before returning home, they all play hide-and-seek together in the great outdoors. Mischa disappears without a trace! The police search is fruitless. A few days later, the authorities close the investigation and demand that the Färbers declare their son dead. But Vera and Jürgen refuse to give up.

Stories of That Night

Four directors - four styles - four episodes, all relating the events of a single night which has entered the history books: August 12-13, 1961. There are thousands of complex narratives connected with the frontier drawn through the middle of Berlin, and each episode relates the story of a difficult decision made on that night...

Babysitter

Micha does the same. He falls in love with Claudia, whom he hardly knew until then, and he falls in love with the role of being a father. Friends and acquaintances bring their children to him and Micha becomes a babysitter, initially against his will. Everything could go on like this, if it weren't for one thing that Micha doesn't know: Claudia's child is not his. Claudia herself has made a compromise in her ideas about life and love that she is now unable to cope with.

Abschiedsdisco

A village has to be destroyed for coal mining. Henning, a 15 years old boy, who wants to visit his grandfather one more time, realizes that nothing will be the way it used to be.

Die Rache des Kapitäns Mitchell

The "Astoria", an English luxury liner, collides with a freighter shortly before the end of its voyage and threatens to sink. Captain Mitchell, successful and envied, sets in motion an expensive rescue operation. He manages to avert a catastrophe and bring the passengers and the ship to safety. But the shipowner considers the operation excessive, calls Mitchell a coward and fires him. His career seems to be over. When his friends and his fiancée also make fun of him, he devises a cunning plan of revenge.

Schneewittchen

Snow White’s stepmother is jealous of her beauty. So great was her vanity that she kept asking her magic mirror: "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?". And he replied that Snow White was a thousand times more beautiful than she was. The vain queen refuses to accept this and decides that Snow White must die.

Drei Gauner, ein Baby und die Liebe

Barely out of jail, oldie burglar Karl is in for a surprise: accomplice Bruno gives him a baby.

Das Traumpaar

Günther and Erwin are best friends and love enemies at the same time: the two shrewd older men have been at loggerheads for 30 years now - over a woman that one of them once stole from the other, of course. The two enjoy teasing and teasing each other. When the attractive pharmacist Anita moves into town one day and turns their heads, the old rivalry threatens to start all over again. Meanwhile, Günther's daughter Paula and her husband, Erwin's son Thomas, have more serious problems: there is a huge crisis in their marriage.

Späte Ankunft

In 1896 the Berlin noble doctor Dr. Wilhelm Holtfreter takes over his well-to-do wife Mathilde and takes over the country doctor's office in the Prussian district of Westprignitz from the late Dr. Tochtenhagen. His decision was met with incomprehension everywhere.

The Girl and the Boy

Puberty drama about the first love of a 15 year old girl from Berlin.

We Buy a Fire Truck

Little Matti and his friends are restoring the old abandoned fire truck .

Blaue Pferde auf rotem Gras

In 1920 Moscow, a wounded Red Guard paints “Blue Horses on Red Grass” to symbolize hope he’ll never see. He presents it to a gravely ill Lenin amid famine, inspiring Lenin to reaffirm his legacy and resolve as he leads Bolsheviks in rationing scarce food for the city’s survival.

Isabel on the Stairs

Twelve-year-old Isabel and her mother, who was a famous political singer, had to escape Chile after the 1973 military coup. Isabel’s father stayed behind fighting in the underground. For six years, they have lived in a new apartment building in East Berlin. At first, the neighbors made an effort to welcome them, but later became more distant. Isabel does not feel at home in the strange country. Not even her friendship to Philip, the neighbors’ son, can change her mind. Almost every day, Isabel sits on the stairs waiting for a letter from her father, from whom she has not heard for many years.

Stein

Actor Ernst Stein, having abdicated from the stage in 1968 in protest of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, has long since retreated from the world around him. In a remote house encircled by an overgrown garden, he lives in a world of dreams and memories. Suddenly, in 1989, an out-of-kilter society sends forth its progeny. Young people, tramps and characters of all sorts take refuge with Stein for a short span, carrying the turmoil of the times into his house.

Erster Verlust

In a German village in 1942, farmer Heinrich Marten is conscripted, leaving behind his wife Kathrin and sister Frieda. As the two young women cannot manage the farm alone, they are given help by the state: a prisoner of war. The Russian Alexei is emaciated and has to be nursed back to health by the women. Working together in the fields and on the farm, Kathrin and Frieda inevitably get closer to the Russian. The resolute Frieda is courted by the local farmer Otto Lange and is at the same time dependent on him. A love affair develops between Kathrin and Alexei. They make love in a shed. But the couple is discovered by a soldier and Alexej flees. He is caught by young Nazis and taken away.

Concert for Frying Pan and Orchestra

For the "Festival of good ideas" that is to take place in their residential quarter the musically enthusiastic young Bum wants to rehearse a music show along with his friends. With pans, cans, hooters and other junk they make music. Some adults get angry about that. Others like the second-hand dealer Dohlenei and Mr. Kling from the symphony orchestra help the children to make their fantastic idea come true.

Suchkind 312

For Ursula Gothe, the wife of the up-and-coming engineer Dr. Richard Gothe, life in the post-war period is finally back on track. That changes when she rediscovers her daughter Martina, who she thought was dead, in a wanted ad. Ursula is stunned with joy, but also very scared: the girl is from a man she met during the war, before her time with Richard. Now Richard is about to be promoted to factory manager and does not want to be discredited because of an illegitimate child.

Spuk aus der Gruft

The young Friedrich Freiherr von Kuhlbanz died almost 300 years ago, but he is cursed beyond death. "I will not rot in my grave if I have committed the murder of the shepherd Dühn", the squire once swore and became a legend as the mummy of Roggelin. One night, Maja meets the ghost of Friedrich in the crypt. And with his sad story, he is able to win her over to help him. Maja is determined to prove Friedrich's innocence.

Ein Mann, der sterben muß

Unknown assailants threaten the life of British scientist Dr. Ronald Fergusson. Only by chance does the attempt to shoot him in the street fail. Fergusson, who does not believe in police protection, hires private detective Weber for his personal safety. And time and again, the headstrong scientist makes it difficult for his bodyguard to fend off further assassination attempts. Despite being expressly forbidden to do so, he leaves the house. Full of bad suspicions, Weber looks for his client in the morgue, but Vivian, Fergusson's employee, doesn't know the dead man...

‎Old Swede‎

A famous journalist wants to adopt a 13 years old orphan boy but their relationship are not perfect.

Jungfer Miras Mirakel

Mira is a young, bigoted, rich and greedy auntie who makes the people around her dance to her tune. And if she ever suffers the minor ailments of old age, it is Doctor Falk, the husband of her niece Suschen, who cures her ailments. In the face of Mira's wealth, the dear relatives outdo each other in courting her aunt's favor, begrudgingly lying in wait for each other. But their greedy hopes are dashed one day when the old maid believes she has been impregnated by a guest of the Napoleonic army. This miracle prompts Auntie to sacrifice her fortune in order to secure the silence and help of the Falks.

Ach du meine Liebe

Detlev, a single insurance clerk in his 30s, is kept dependent by his loving and caring mother and loses his girlfriend Karin as a result. Grief and an alcoholic chance acquaintance prompt him to place an ad for marriage. Detlev gets caught up in a whirlwind of friendships and love affairs: with the caring widow Karin; the well-to-do hair salon owner Ute Schöbel; the cultural editor Norma Goldbach, the photo reporter Kerstin and the student Andrea Binz. Detlev, who initially proves himself as a friend and advisor, but also as a lover, becomes increasingly self-confident. He is also successful in his work and finally emancipates himself from his mother. Although he loses "his" women in a turbulent odyssey, Detlev has transformed himself from a mama's boy into a thoroughly acceptable man.

Wie wär's mit uns beiden

In three episodes about six people, the film takes on the topics of relationships, difficult social engagements , and love in the German Democratic Republic.

Im Spiegel

Jürgen Matthes, Horst Knüpfer, Peter Vorberger - three men of different ages who are entrusted with the same large-scale IT project. In the context of this project, they begin to reflect on their work, the quality of human relationships and the meaning of life in general.

Ich liebe dich - April! April!

The law student Caroline and the assistant professor Tom are husband and wife, but they keep their marriage a secret. While Caroline is afraid of annoying her mother Hella who ever since her divorce twenty years ago distrusts men in general, Tom dreads the criticism of his professor, a family law specialist who objects to the concept of marriage. By chance, Caroline gets hold of some juicy information: Her mother and the professor used to be a couple and she is their child. With almost missionary zeal she addresses herself to the task of convincing the two grown-ups to get back together. In the process, however, she steers both her academic studies and her own marriage into a crisis.

Backhouse Bliss

Karl Erp is a middle-aged man with two children and a boring marriage. After starting an exciting affair with his intern, Miss Broder, he leaves his loveless marriage and moves in with his lover. Under pressure from Miss Broder’s mother, Karl once again promises marriage. He finds, however, that the excitement that drew him to her in the first place doesn’t carry over into their daily lives.

Wuff

Romantic comedy about the love confusion of four girlfriends, whose lives are properly turned upside down by their four-legged friends. After being abandoned by her boyfriend, Ella adopts a half-breed called Bozer, who jumbled up her everyday life, but also makes her happy again. Cecile, on the other hand, is about to divorce, but the meek four-legged Simpson averts the worst and is also there for the children. Silke works as a dog trainer and knows very well about the animals, but she has her problems with her fellow human beings. She meets former footballer Olli. And also Lulu has met someone, but her acquaintance is a dog lover, while she has a preference for cats.

Der Haifischfütterer

The furniture mover Stefan is on the verge of serving his time in the military. He has always been a guy with distinctive civil courage who cannot stand injustice. Now he has ten days left in which he plans to make a lot of decisions, not least the decision with which woman he wants to spend his life. Stefan is picky, however, and none of them seems good enough for him.

Auf dem Sprung

Gottfried and Markus are friends who have done everything together so far: School, vocational training with A-levels, time in the army. Markus' girlfriend Karin is also adored by Gottfried. Now they are about to leave for Dresden to study physics. At the last moment, Gottfried changes his mind. He stays and wants to become a home educator after picking up a runaway boy and bringing him back. Markus terminates his friendship, his parents and colleagues are stunned. But Gottfried enthusiastically puts his intention into practice. Karin turns more and more to him, and when he loses some children on an outing, Markus helps.

Susan, Dear Susan

Suse works as a truck driver on a major construction site. The young woman has a hard life behind her. She was foundling, was raised by farmers. Manne, the father of her child, wanted to escape from the GDR and is in prison. After he is released, Manne wants to live again with Suse and their child together. But she rejects him as well as another worshiper. Suse is more interested in the Soviet engineer Boris, but apparently not for her, since he can never remember her at their chance encounters. But a much bigger problem - and a difficult one - is Suse, when she is offered to go to the Soviet Union for six months.

Die Stunde der Töchter

A life-threatening heart attack confines Richard Roth to the hospital bed. There, Richard, who is in his late fifties, asks himself what will remain of him and his life. What happened to his four daughters? Do they take after him? How have they developed? His youngest daughter Nanny, who is still living with her father, gets her three other siblings to Weimar to visit their father.

Der Mantel des Ketzers

Based on a novella by Bertolt Brecht.

Die Bestie

Moscow in the 1920s. A film about the pogroms in southern Russia is being made in a studio. The name of the notorious tsarist governor Muratov, also known as "The Beast", symbolizes the crimes of the time. During filming, an old, decrepit man comes forward who wants to be in the movie because of his resemblance to Muratov. Could it be possible that this man is the real Muratov? Everyone is so preoccupied with the realization of the material that this incident remains hidden. As artists, everyone has their own visions - which often bypass reality ...

My Father Alfons

Ten years old Ernst and his father Alfons are traveling to the family event on their bikes.

Asta, mein Engelchen

Old Otto Gratzick is a porter at DEFA and a great admirer of Asta Nielsen. When the famous actor Hermann Gschwindner dies shortly before the end of his film, the director is looking for a double for the final scenes and discovers Otto in the movie theater, who has just been moved by Asta again. Otto takes on the task. He also places a marriage advertisement looking for a woman who resembles Asta. The first date with Astrid, who does indeed look like Asta, is a flop. Otto falls asleep. He tries again with her - as Hermann Gschwindner - and is successful. He is recognized in a hotel bar and asked to perform a song. Everyone, including Astrid, is entranced. After a few complications, his real identity is revealed - Astrid had also done a lot of work to look like Asta.

Puppen für die Nacht

Four small-time crooks occasionally enlist the help of their girlfriends to earn a living by robbing cars. It is only when a former television producer joins the business that they achieve visible success.

The Beast Of Prey

After a wolf had killed a sheep in their village, 12-year old Roland and his friend Hugo keep track of the predator. Roland wants to build a trap to capture the wolf alive. His father, on the other hand, wants to kill the animal with the hunting collective. Thus, father and son become rivals. Whereas his father takes leave from his job to lie in wait for the wolf, Roland ditches school and tinkers with his trap.

Ein Mädchen aus Schnee

The children’s film is based on Wenjamin Kawerin’s short story "Leichte Schritte". It centers on the ten-year-old Peter who is in love with his classmate Una. Much to his despair, however, Una is attracted to another classmate. Peter escapes into a dream world in which he spends a wonderful time with a girlfriend made from snow. As springtime arrives, the snow girl is threatened by the thaw. In order to preserve their friendship, Peter locks his "Una" into a cold store.

Einberufen

Young East German men starting their compulsary 18-month military service at a Rostock garrison.

Kaule

Eleven-year-old Kaule lives with his aunt in Hinrichsfelde, a small village located in Mecklenburg. The smart and animated boy constantly comes up with plans that are supposed to help others. Since they usually go awry, however, most of the time his fellow men have a hard time appreciating these plans. Things get even worse when Kaule meets Karola, a girl who is new in the village.

My Sisters

How should you spend your time if your days are numbered? This is the question facing Linda, a young woman suffering from a congenital heart defect. Contrary to her doctors’ expectations she has managed to survive to celebrate her thirtieth birthday, but with an operation looming, Linda nonetheless feels a deep need to spend what might be her last weekend with her two sisters: Katharina who is older, and Clara who is younger than her. Linda must use their journey, which begins at their family’s weekend house and ends in Paris, to examine the ways in which her family has been fundamentally affected by her illness; she must also consider how much she can expect from herself and her sisters – faced as they are with the possibility of her death.

Im Schlaraffenland

Who hasn't dreamed the sweet dream of the land of milk and honey, where roast pigeons fly into your mouth? But even the fairy tale makes it clear that such effortless indulgence is unhealthy because it makes you unproductive and unfit for life. Heinrich Mann discovers the land of milk and honey not behind a wall of semolina in a somewhere and sometime, but in the salon of the banker James Louis Türckheimer, who is bursting with money at a time of transition from the 19th to the 20th century. A first address for very different people who want to partake of its splendor...

Exploring the Brandenburg Marche

On a forest road in the Brandenburg March, village teacher Potsch accidentally encounters the distinguished Professor Menzel, who got stuck there in his car. In the conversation that ensues, Menzel and Pötsch quickly discover that they both are great admirers of the early 19th-century writer Max von Schwedenow who was born in the area.

Tödliches Leben

As an architect Robert Cortin is self-confident, but his private life is shaky. His wife Vera, a gynecologist, cannot have children. They have tried to get adopt a child for some time. Now Robert learns that his lover Stefanie is pregnant.

Ein bisschen Luft unter die Flügel

Founded in 1954 as the “Deutsche Hochschule für Filmkunst”, today's “Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen” is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The documentary traces the history of the university. Graduates of the school have their say and excerpts of student films from five decades are presented.