Who doesn't know the dream of an unexpected million-dollar inheritance? For microbiologist Dr. Wolf, it seems to come true when an American lawyer visits him to tell him about the death of his distant uncle in the USA. Wolf is to receive an inheritance worth millions, but on one condition: He must continue to run his uncle's factory in the USA. The natural scientist is also offered the prospect of a research position at Camp Detrick. But after the memorable visit, Wolf discovers a listening device in his apartment. When he informs the People's Police, more and more inconsistencies come to light.
Das russische Wunder (The Russian Miracle) (1963) is a two-part East German documentary directed by Annelie and Andrew Thorndike. The documentary chronicles Russia’s dramatic transformation from the Tsarist Empire to the Soviet Union, covering key historical moments including the 1917 October Revolution and the rise of Soviet communism. Through the use of archival footage, the film explores the socio-political upheavals that reshaped Russia and culminates in the achievements of the Soviet space program. Produced by DEFA, it was first broadcast on East German television in 1963, offering an insightful look at Russia's 20th-century evolution.
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.
After years of drifting around, Willi Palko arrives in the lignite mining area. He was not only looking for a new job, but also wanted to finally settle down here. The party leadership sends him to the Schepp brigade, which has made itself "suspicious" (on paper) due to its extremely high production figures. The stranger is accused of being a spy for the factory management. Willi finds it difficult to assert himself, but he is taken with the big excavator, the prospect of one day being allowed to drive it, and the brash flapper Hanna. He stays, and with his help a mine foreman is exposed as a Western agent and coal production is brought up to a really high level.
After a breakdown, Rita returns to her childhood village in 1961. As she recovers, she remembers the past two years: her love for the chemist Manfred, ten years her senior; how his enthusiasm about his new chemical process turned to bitter disappointment in the face of official rejection; how he escaped to West Berlin a few weeks before the Wall was built and hoped that she would follow him …
17-year-old Susanne is a gymnast and has a chance to join the national team. But now, of all times, she is having problems in training. She can't manage the new dismount from the uneven bars. At the same time, she gets into other conflict situations: her performance at school is getting worse. Her ambitious mother, accustomed to her daughter's successes, does not show the necessary understanding. Her father, divorced from Susanne's mother and constantly traveling, is rarely there for her. Her boyfriend Michael, with whom she experiences her first love, soon has to join the army and feels neglected because Susanne has too little time for him. Her coach, however, shows understanding and stands by her side in conflict situations, which she eventually overcomes - and so her success in sport returns.
It seems as if Lena is a Sunday child: successful in her job and heiress to a hotel. What is strange, however, is that she doesn't know the man who left her a legacy in his will. She travels to the Thuringian town of Saalfeld to take a look at her inheritance and initially decides to sell the hotel. However, when the situation in the company changes for her, she changes her mind and accepts her inheritance in full. But running a hotel requires more than self-confidence and cleverness, as she soon realizes.
Eleven-year-old Christine, called “Schiene”, spends her vacation on her grandparents' farm and discovers Zirri, a bright white cloud sheep, in her grandfather's flock of sheep.
Major Bert Harkus takes over the artillery regiment in Jesnack after graduating from the military academy. The troop proudly presents itself during an exercise. But apart from some good results in shooting, Harkus soon realizes that there are a few problems. As he does not believe that constant combat readiness is guaranteed, he orders far-reaching changes and does not only make friends. Only gradually do the troops pull themselves together.
15-year old Klaus Kambor, called Kurbel, is living in a village in Lusatia and already thinks of himself as an adult. He can hold a lot of rhubarb wine and has already kissed a girl. But with his new method of lawn mowing, which he thinks is brilliant, Klaus makes a big mistake: He causes a wild fire in the forest. Then he does not react adult-like at all, but shirks the responsibility, which leads to the break-up with his girlfriend Daniela. Furthermore, Klaus does not realize that several of the places he likes the most in his environment are now going to be sacrificed to mining. When Klaus becomes friends with the teacher Konzak and with the construction worker Jule, he feels understood for the first time and starts to take more responsibility.
30 years after the end of World War II, a Soviet and an American journalist meet again for realizing post war paths of their countries.
A wrestler finds his political interest and activism through sport. However, this is extremely dangerous during the Nazi era and the workers' sports movement starts a resistance against the Nazi regime...
In the late fifties a large industrial complex was built near Schwedt, in the GDR. This low budget film tells about the voluntary participation of the brigades of the Freie Deutsche Jugend in the building up …
A warship returning from a training exercise was tasked with apprehending an unknown schooner that had violated GDR territorial waters. Although nothing illegal was found during the search of the ship, the ship's commander Fischer was suspicious of the owner of the schooner, Arendt, a former lieutenant of a Nazi coastal battery. Fischer's doubts were confirmed when a diver came aboard the schooner and photographed a military object underwater. The investigation showed that the detained schooner was on a sabotage mission, and the "activities" of Arendt, a former Gestapo Obersturmführer, were also revealed.
A Jewish chief of surgery in 1933 Germany remains blind to the rising Nazi threat, dismissing political dissent from his son and a patient, until his family faces increasing anti-Semitic persecution.
Dr. Gerd Thiessen, an experienced veterinarian, takes up a new job at a publicly owned manor. His research colleagues are less than thrilled about his ideas and modification proposals. Thus, the pretty and confident veterinarian Sabine Ladenbach becomes his only ally and soon they fall in love with each other. When Thiessen’s wife Eva notices that her husband is growing away from her, she starts to fight for him. Eventually, Thiessen realizes that Eva is the woman of his life, both privately and professionally. At the same time, he figures out that he needs the support of his team to achieve success in his field.
The widowed, single-parent pastor Anja has a silent admirer in Herbert. But then she falls in love with Jochen.
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.
Adaptation of the classic fairytale. Rapunzel lives alone in the woods, in a tower with no doors. Then, one day, a mysterious stranger comes for a visit.
Fred works as an engineer and a test driver at a car company. His girlfriend Petra is a car mechanic - actually an ideal combination. However, the old-fashioned Fred is less than thrilled about his girlfriend’s "male profession". In his opinion, the masculine job damages her femininity. Since Petra is unwilling to give up her beloved job for such stupid concerns, there is a lot of friction between them. It is not until Petra turns the heads of all the men at a fair that Fred realizes how absurd his objections really are.
Europe, 1620: The well-known astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, who teaches as a professor in Linz, receives the message that his mother is prosecuted as a witch in Württemberg. The truth behind the allegations is rather simple: His mother has been denunciated by a former friend after an argument with the authorities. Kepler tries desperately to convince the prosecutors of the absurdity of their allegations with rational arguments.
The 18-year-old Katharina Jens is a high diving champion and succeeds in everything she does. When she enters an international contest in place of her team colleague Claudia, expectations are accordingly high. However, when she misses the one-and-a-half somersault with a double twist her team fails to gain victory. Suddenly, the question arises if she is in fact good enough.
Professor Heger's son was shot by the Gestapo during the war. Dr. Bram was also responsible for his death. After the war, working in Heger's clinic, Bram tells the professor about his guilt. Considering Bram a traitor, Heger refuses to work with him. Bram flees to West Germany. Soon the professor, who has decided in his heart to stay in the FRG forever, leaves for Munich for the congress. But his meeting with Bram in Munich and the reality surrounding them dispelled his illusions, and they both return to their homeland.
Shortly after the seizure of power by Adolf Hitler at the beginning of 1933, preparations were underway to silence the members of the socialist and communist parties.
Adam, Evchen, and Manni are looking at the moon through their home-made telescope. Evchen isn't interested, and dismisses the moon as a lump of cheese. Manni, who is a big fan of technology, sees satellites and a car driving over the moon's surface. But Adam hears the moon speak, and hears it ask for flowers to cover its surface. From then on, Adam is determined to breed a kind of flower that can grow on the moon.
A film about the historical uprising of the seamen in Kiel: During the Russian October Revolution of 1917, German and Russian soldiers start to solidarize with each other. By disarming the officers, machinist Henne Lonke and stoker Jens Kasten prevent the attack on a Russian freighter. When German admiralty gives out orders for operation "Nibelungen", which would lead the German fleet into a suicidal attack against England and quell the revolutionary spirit, seamen and soldiers from different political backgrounds unite in protest.
A warship returning from a training exercise was tasked with apprehending an unknown schooner that had violated GDR territorial waters. Although nothing illegal was found during the search of the ship, the ship's commander Fischer was suspicious of the owner of the schooner, Arendt, a former lieutenant of a Nazi coastal battery. Fischer's doubts were confirmed when a diver came aboard the schooner and photographed a military object underwater. The investigation showed that the detained schooner was on a sabotage mission, and the "activities" of Arendt, a former Gestapo Obersturmführer, were also revealed.
