Emmi Kurowski, a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship. One night she goes to a bar frequented by Arab immigrants and strikes up a friendship with middle-aged mechanic Ali. Their relationship soon develops into something more, and Emmi's family and neighbors criticize their spontaneous marriage. Soon Emmi and Ali are forced to confront their own insecurities about their future.
Who is the funniest Berliner? Helga Hahnemann or Edith Hancke, Brigitte Mira or Cindy from Marzahn? rbb television is looking for the Berliner with the biggest mouth and the even bigger heart. Who will be number 1? To this day, they inspire TV audiences with their big mouths and big hearts - genuine Berliners such as Ingrid Steeger, the nation's "funny girl", Helga Hahnemann, the unforgettable "Henne", or Cindy from Marzahn, the cult figure in pink and jogging pants. From a selection of 15 ladies, rbb Fernsehen is looking for the funniest Berliner of all time. Highlights from 60 years of German television entertainment will be presented: legendary appearances and sketches, curious finds and lots of music and artistry. There will be a reunion with the master cake thrower and fast-talker Gisela Schlüter, the funky rock star Nina Hagen, the "Drei Damen vom Grill" and many, many more.
A murder has taken place in the “Ostend” hotel in St. Pauli and Inspector Canisius is called to the crime scene. Mentally shaken, Canisius takes up the investigation. A wide variety of guests and couples were at the hotel that night, and anyone could be the perpetrator. Canisius experiences his most difficult case, in constant fear for his son.
The film follows Kaspar Hauser, who lived the first seventeen years of his life chained in a tiny cellar with only a toy horse to occupy his time, devoid of all human contact except for a man who wears a black overcoat and top hat who feeds him.
A husband and wife lie to each other about their weekend travel plans, only to both show up at the family's country house with their lovers.
After a worker kills a superior and commits suicide, each of his family members attempts to forge a path forward in life.
After having her second child, a German housewife suffers from postpartum depression before inexplicably falling into a continually misdiagnosed mental state, befuddling her relatives.
The British parliament has decided to get rid of the royal family. All of them have to leave the county and so they move to Germany, where they want to live by their distant relatives, the Bettenberg family. But these are not amused about their snobbish visitors, which all want to reside in their little house without doing any work to earn their living.
Peter wants to practice for an upcoming jazz competition with his friends Willi, Oskar, and Jupp. But his uncle Tobias, on whose farm Peter lives, must not find out about it.
Though originally slated for a 1960 release, the full original film was only released in 1988. A heavily altered version with a different directors was released under the title Die Nacht am See in 1963.
A television technician who is mistaken for a star photographer can hardly save himself from girls who are addicted to fame. A simple-minded story of mistaken identity as a hook for striptease acts and cheap jokes.
The story of Jacob Fabian, a somewhat liberal Berlin advertising copywriter who witnesses the collapse of the prewar German society during the 1930s.
The Political drama shows the denunciation and persecution of the 19-year-old Sanne in the Nazi state. After she falls in love with her cousin, Sanne is betrayed by her jealous aunt to the Gestapo.
Professor Lichtwitz, a successful architect and notorious womanizer, secretly accesses his penthouse via his office. Employee Bodo, assuming Lichtwitz is away, invites dentist’s assistant Stella to the “vacant” penthouse for dinner. Unaware of his boss’s return, Bodo and others, including Lichtwitz’s wife, believe the penthouse is empty, triggering a hectic swirl of mistaken assumptions and visitors.
Edward Collins wants nothing more than to live a modest life. But as a millionaire with a luxurious villa, chauffeur, and everything his heart desires, women are desperately after him. This time, however, Edward wants to play it safe and, together with his devoted butler, Alfons Heinz Erhardt, hatches a plan. The sweet waitress Ninette Germaine Damar, whom he meets by chance, tells Edward that he is completely penniless. Ninette promptly gets him a temporary job as a parking attendant. But that's only when the complications really begin.
Anita Drögemöller has transformed herself from a small-time street prostitute into a luxury call girl. But one day she finds her former pimp dead in her apartment with a broken neck. Chief Inspector Langensiepen takes up the investigation and discovers an impenetrable web of sex, lies, raison d'état and murder.
Otto, a feckless Everyman, tries to adjust to the postwar travails of his defeated nation. Stymied by black-market profiteers and government bureaucrats, Otto begins fantasizing about a happier life at the end of that ever-elusive rainbow.
The Second World War is over and now begins in post-war Germany, the reconstruction. Jakob Formann sees his chance here and begins a rapid rise as an entrepreneur.
In the 1930s, three unsuccessful variety artists dream of making it big. When they hear about the rise of sound films in Hollywood, they see their chance: a language school for silent film stars will bring them fame and success. Full of hope, they travel to California, straight into the exciting world of the first sound film productions. But not everything goes as planned...
When they start losing family members and neighbors due to WWII and the Nazi government's policies, a quiet married couple becomes disillusioned and begins spreading leaflets against the government - a crime punishable by death.
In a totalitarian society of the future, in which the government controls all facets of the media, a homicide detective investigates a string of bombings and finds out more than he bargained for.
An East Berlin woman falls in love with a Swiss cook.
Cautionary drama, with vigorous attack on Germany's laws governing abortion.
A thriller about a maniac murderer who to the outside world is a celebrity TV presenter. His beautiful assistant, a woman who has fallen off the career ladder, is terrorized by him. A job-hunting animation artist gets caught in the world of glitter and glamour of the TV industry. Drugs and promiscuity are omnipresent. The animation artist falls in love with the assistant and his love is returned; together they uncover the true identity of the killer. Murderous Decisions is a special experiment: an interactive zap-movie, leaving it up to the viewer whether they follow the story from the male or female perspective. The movie is one of a kind, actually being two movies aired simutaneously on separate TV channels and allowing the viewer to switch back and forth at will.
Berlin at the beginning of the 1930s, economic crisis, chaos: Bruno, Franz and Emil, three unemployed young men, are looking for a way out of their misery and decide to kidnap Abel Austerlitz, the son of a rich Jewish factory owner. Emil's charming sister Rosamunde lures Abel into the trap, and the gang of crooks then hold him captive in a cellar hideout on the outskirts of Berlin. While they organize the money transfer, Abel's father informs the police and the unconventional Inspector Jablonski begins to search for the perpetrators. Rosamunde falls in love with Abel and the situation spirals out of control.
A famous poet who hasn't written a word in two years unconsciously plagiarizes the work of Stefan George, while dealing with several mistresses, his dim-witted brother, and a murder investigation.
Three guests in a luxury hotel. The highly respected managing director of a computer company, an actor and womanizer and finally a bespectacled murderer who has calculated that a hotel room is the perfect setting for the murder of his victim, a Chinese politician passing through. As luck would have it, the three men swap rooms. As a result, the call girl, who is actually expected by the actor, ends up with the murderer, the respected businesswoman expected by the manager goes to the womanizer and the businessman's real wife, who (unexpectedly) turns up to accompany her husband, suddenly finds herself in the same room as the call girl and the murderer. Events come thick and fast and the murderer, whose glasses have been broken in the confusion, is unable to carry out his murder.
The chorus girl Caterina Duval gets the chance of her life when hired as stand-in of a famous star. On the opening night Catarina is singing, dancing and stepping into the hearts of the audience.
A German serial killer preys on boys and young men during the so-called years of crisis between the wars. Based on the true story of Fritz Haarmann, aka the Butcher of Hanover and the Vampire of Hanover.
Street sweeper Sigi finds a box containing not only 300,000 marks, but also a photo of his unsympathetic superior in a compromising situation. Sigi thinks he's in luck, but what he doesn't realize is that an unscrupulous businesswoman wanted to use the money to bribe influential men. And of course she wants her money back. So the good-natured Sigi becomes embroiled in a series of turbulent adventures.
Widow Käthe Mühlmann is a little eccentric. Every day she confides her worries to the photo of her husband Hubert, who has been dead for ten years but is still closer to her than her two friends Arabella and Brigitte. Käthe does indeed have reason to worry: her much-loved granddaughter Christine has lost her heart to the dubious Stefan Seyler, who is cheating on her through and through. What's more, Seyler has turned Christine's traditional café into a shady nightclub.
Set in Berlin in the eighties of the 19th century. The focus is on the upper-class family of Kommerzienrat Treibel and the family of Professor Schmidt, who live in modest circumstances. For the former, outward appearances, possessions and the resulting social standing have the importance that education and authenticity have for the latter. The friendly contact between them by no means goes so far that, from Jenny Treibel's point of view, an engagement between their children would not threaten the social order.
The industrialist Greskämper, who is responsible for mass redundancies, is kidnapped by terrorists. The kidnappers demand a ransom of 1 million marks. The main characters in this crime comedy based on the novel by -ky are two representatives of the 1968 generation, now disillusioned and pursuing bourgeois dreams: Benno, an unemployed political scientist, and Britta, a graduate student in education from Berlin, run Benno's grandfather's tobacconist's store in the provinces. Then they find a badly injured woman in the woods who has been attacked by a sex offender. She is one of the terrorists who kidnapped Greskämper and has 750,000 marks of the ransom money with her. The woman dies, Benno and Britta bury her and distribute 500,000 marks to the workers Greskämper has dismissed. But then the police get onto their trail. Benno is arrested and Britta makes off with the remaining money.
When Hitler watches Marlene Dietrich in a movie, he falls in love with her. He persuades her to come back to Germany to be with him, but upon her arrival, she constantly insults and provokes him until he eventually, on her command, bites the carpet to bits.
Nine-year-old Primel’s single mother must leave town, so her apartment building’s seven tenants take turns babysitting. Primel’s boundless energy sparks chaos, but also warms hearts. In caring for her, the neighbors transform from strangers into a close-knit community.
Berlin 1923: A murder case shakes the city. Carpenter Elli poisoned her husband because he wanted to end her love relationship with Grete. For the tortured Elli, the deed is like an act of liberation.
A middle-aged man's doubts about himself transform themselves into paranoia about his younger wife's behavior in this psychological thriller. The husband plants listening devices around their apartment and eventually drives the heretofore innocent woman into the arms of one of his co-workers.
Shot with striking immediacy by a subjective camera, “Angst isst Seele auf” assumes the point of view of a black actor in Germany dealing with racist abuse as he prepares to appear in a play based on Fassbinder’s film, about the taboo relationship between an older German woman and an Arab man. Sharing the same lead actress (Brigitte Mira), cinematographer (Jürgen Jürges), and editor (Thea Eymèsz) as in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1974 Film “Angst essen Seele auf”, these twin works offer a searing indictment of prejudice within German society.
Edgar Allen Poe fanatic and literature professor Dudley (Heinz Hoenig) is an extraordinary chamber scholar, in whose life the mysterious Annabel (Stephanie Philipp) suddenly enters, similar to the title of a poem by his beloved writer. Annabel gives theatre performances in the auditorium of a Dutch university and Dudley is completely in love with her. They have a fantastic weekend together, but then she disappears as mysteriously as she had come. Dudley embarks on an endless quest that is stiff with Poe symbolism. It takes him to the red light district of Amsterdam, but also to the jet-set of Berlin and the beaches of the Baltic Sea.
The Berlin Observatory is facing the financial end. Against the will of the renowned physicist Robert von Reichenbach, the astrologer Lena Moosbach is set, which quickly establishes itself as a crowd puller and fills the empty cash registers of the planetarium. Worried about the scientific reputation of the observatory, Robert spat first poison and bile against the new colleague. But although the sober astronomer rejects horoscopes with the deepest conviction, he falls in love with the charming astrologer. However, when it turns out that she just feigned her Ph.D., Robert feels betrayed
A movie directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb.
A sharp-witted parody of the talk show format, this self-conceived television special by legendary German comedian Loriot blends satire and sketch comedy. Featuring Loriot in multiple roles, the program playfully disrupts the typical talk show structure with absurd interruptions and cleverly crafted sketches. Originally aired on November 13, 1974, it marked Loriot’s first full creative venture as writer, director, and performer. Elements of Loriot’s Telecabinet later resurfaced in his iconic comedy series, cementing its place in German television history.
The head of a newly created office against illegal employment exchange is supposed to stop undeclared work and the shadow economy in his sphere of influence. At the end of the investigation, an international building tycoon, a desperate small businessman and an unemployed man are caught in his investigative net.
Fox, a former circus performer, wins the lottery of DM 500,000 and can now have the life and things that he has always wanted. He enters an abusive relationship with wealthy industrialist Eugen in an attempt to climb the social ladder. His desperation for love and affection soon spirals into tragedy.
The story of a German singer named Willie, who while working in Switzerland, falls in love with a Jewish composer named Robert, whose family is helping people to flee from the Nazis. Robert’s family is skeptical of Willie, thinking she could be a Nazi as she becomes famous for singing the song “Lili Marleen”.
The gentle inhabitants of a quaint Berlin apartment house, damaged by the Second World War but possessing an elegance of its own, love the place where they live, with its motto Liebe das Leben-Lebe das Lieben (Love Living, Live Loving) emblazoned above the door. Their love for it only increases when they learn that it is threatened by a bank redevelopment project. Among the apartment-dwellers are an elderly couple (Brigitte Mira and Erhardt Dhein) who have toured the world together.
An essay film in which filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim interviews "the willing victims of Rainer Werner Fassbinder."
Saleswoman Jenny is crazy about the painter Jack. But Jack does not want to marry, even though he loves Jenny passionately. So Jenny looks elsewhere to find the right man. She marries twice, but always ends up back with Jack and gives herself to him with no attachments. Will Jack and Jenny find true love? Of course!
"Did you ever fall in love with me?" - that was how the popular comedian Max Hansen ironically yet endearingly attacked Adolf Hitler as a homosexual. In the late 1920s Hansen was forced to leave Germany. The multi-talented entertainer lost his audience and was never again to be seen on a German stage. His children and many others who were part of his life tell their side of the story about the tragicomic life of the popular artist.
Mixing scenes of Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows and Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, François Ozon creates a new film about cinephilic contamination.
1838: Fritz Jüterbog and Ottilie von Henkeshofen love each other, but the difference in status is too great for Ottilie's parents to give their consent to a marriage. And so, Fritz sets off for America and returns from there 20 years later as a made man to ask for Ottilie's hand in marriage again. In the meantime, however, Ottilie - believing that Fritz had long since forgotten her - is married in a manner befitting her status, but very unhappily. Fritz, who is highly successful as an entrepreneur, is elevated to hereditary nobility because of his great services to the fatherland. It is too late for a union with Ottilie, but despite the years that pass, the two cannot forget their love. 75 years later, Fritz and Ottilie have died in the meantime, their grandchildren Fred and Tilla meet and fall in love.
Once upon a time very much alike the twenties in Germany, a little town is frightened to death by an uncaught child murderer. Since somebody has to be blamed the townspeople turn against an inconspicious policeman, a family-man who becomes suspected of the crime and therefore loses his job. Strangely enough, the only work he can find is to distribute candy on children, dressed up as clown. When a bunch of kiddies, including his own son who doesn't recognize the father due to the masquerade, plays a nasty trick to him, things turn really ugly...
A pseudo variety show about the Aufbau-Era, the time of the German 'economic miracle'. Brigitte Mira recounts her four husbands through song and joke, on a series of artificial sets.
An African-American GI retires from the US Army in West Berlin to live with his white girlfriend, who already has a baby with another black man. After an argument with her family, she deserts him as well. Despite finding a job and a new place to live, he keeps running into racism, which also manifests itself in sexual intimidation.
"It must schwing!" was the motto of Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two German Jewish immigrants who in 1939 set up Blue Note Records, the jazz label that was home to such greats as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins. Blue Note, the most successful movie ever made about jazz, is a testimony to the passion and vision of these two men and certainly swings like the propulsive sounds that made their label so famous.
