Ernst Schröder

The Man Between

A British woman on a visit to post-war Berlin is caught up in an espionage ring smuggling secrets into and out of the Eastern Bloc.

The Counterfeit Traitor

Blacklisted in modern day WW2, a Swedish oil trader opts to assist British Allies, by means of infiltrating and surveying Nazi Germany.

Punishment Battalion

The film focuses on life in a World War II German penal battalion camp somewhere in Russia. The convicts include a heroic doctor unjustly convicted of avoiding military service, an officer who retreated against orders, and common criminals. It shows their life in the camp, clearing mines, living in trenches on the front line.

Under the Thousand Lanterns

This German drama tells the story of a musician who is killed and leaves his work unfinished. His apprentice is cleared of the murder and turns out to be the real composer.

Mein Schulfreund

In the midst of World War II, postman Ludwig Fuchs writes a letter to his former school friend Field Marshal Hermann Göring, urging him to work for peace. He is declared mentally incompetent. After the war, he struggles to shake off the stigma of alleged mental illness. Göring is executed. Fuchs forces the court to examine him: he vandalizes the lobby of Post Office 122 in Munich and is rehabilitated (with full salary compensation for lost years).

Du mein stilles Tal

Elisabeth, wife of a landowner, has kept from her husband for twenty years that their daughter is not his. Rather, she is the result of an affair with a musician she was dating shortly before their marriage. Now this man, by now a famous concert pianist, enters her life again. Elisabeth resists the temptation to sink once again into the arms of her romantic lover. Since she loves her husband, she stays with him and continues to keep her secret...

Die Rede des Odysseus

Experimental short film

The Plot to Assassinate Hitler

A disillusioned Wehrmacht officer named Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944.

The Odessa File

Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, investigative journalist Peter Miller sets out to hunt down an SS Captain and former concentration camp commander. In doing so he discovers that, despite allegations of war crimes, the former commander has become a man of importance in industry in post-war Germany, protected from prosecution by a powerful organisation of former SS members called Odessa.

Kitty and the Great Big World

The young Kitty is drawn into the world of international politics by chance.

Friedrich Schiller – Der Triumph eines Genies

The young Schiller, whose heart and soul are writing and poetry, is forced into the military academy (the pride and joy of the Duke of Württemberg). Schiller is disgusted by the everyday routine of the military, always back and forth between breeding and drills. Conversation, conflict or even critique are discouraged – the oppression insufferable for the young rebel. Disgusted by the brutality, he writes his drama "The Bandit", which he would later publish anonymously. But following a frank conversation with the Duke, Schiller is dishonored and must leave the land.

Der große Schatten

During a performance of Calderón's "The Judge of Zalamea," a young actor encounters his famous older colleague, whose daughter committed suicide years ago after he seduced and abandoned her. The older man finds the strength to reconcile when he is convinced of his adversary's remorse and inner transformation.

Die große Versuchung

A young man practices medicine without a licence.

Nylon Noose

A company's stockholders hold their meeting at a lonely mansion. A mad doctor conducting experiments in the mansion starts to strangle them one at a time with a nylon noose. The survivors must figure out a way to stop him.

Ohne Dich wird es Nacht

Dr. Kessler, a lawyer in poor health, actually just wanted to take a dose of morphine to get fit for his court appearance. But the necessity turns into an addiction. It is only when Kessler falls in love that he goes into rehab. However, it is not long before temptation takes hold of him again and the morphine threatens to destroy Kessler's life and his new love for good.

Cavalry Captain Wronski

A Polish officer works undercover in 1930s Berlin to discover Nazi Germany's plans against his homeland.

The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse

The evil Dr. Mabuse develops a death ray with which he threatens the world.

Angelique

In 17th-century France, beautiful country maiden Angélique marries wealthy neighbor Jeoffray de Peyrac out of convenience, but eventually, she falls in love with him. So when Jeoffray is arrested and then vanishes, she bravely sets out to find him. This is the first of many dramas based on Anne and Serge Golon's novels about strong-willed Angélique and her adventures during the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

Angelique: The Road To Versailles

Angelique is saved by the king of the cutthroats when she is endangered in the streets of Paris. After her hero is killed, she has many amorous affairs and becomes a successful businesswoman.

Uncle Krüger

An anti-British propaganda film from Nazi Germany which depicts the life of the South African politician Paul Kruger and his eventual defeat by the British during the Boer War.

Andorra

In Andorra on St. George’s Eve, Jewish foster‐son Andri loves Barblin, unaware she’s his half‐sister. Amid rising anti‐Semitism and family secrets, he’s falsely accused of violence, tried in a “Judenschau,” and executed. His father’s suicide and Barblin’s madness close this tragedy.

Sündige Grenze

Film about young smugglers.

The Man Who Sold Himself

Meant to be a diatribe against yellow journalism and current social ills, this weakly limned drama by Josef von Baky features a reporter who works for one of the tabloid papers. The reporter digs up dirt on the past life of a local hotel owner, and wanting to take full advantage of the muck, he strings out his revelations in a series of perjorative, damning articles on the man. The result of this campaign turns out to be much worse than simply ruining the hotel owner's reputation.

The Black Chapel

1933 in Germany. The rise of Nazism fears war and some officers, concerned the fate that hostilities would reserve to their country, organize an anti-Nazi group. They send a reporter, Golder, to communicate the plan of the German offensive allies.

A Song for Europe

Steven Dyer, an executive working for a giant multinational drugs company, decides to report his employer for breaches of Common Market trading regulations. One night in Basle, Switzerland, he leaves his home to post a letter, the start of a nightmare journey that leads to terrible consequences for his life, his career and for his wife and children.

Er-Götz-liches

Episodic film based on four plays (‘Der Hund im Hirn’, ‘Lohengrin’, ‘Der Mörder’, and ‘Minna Magdalena’) by Curt Goetz, each with Carl-Heinz Schroth in the leading role.

The Longest Day

The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"

Tagebuch einer Verliebten

In South Tirol, shortly after ww-ii: Paul and Barbara Holzmann and their son Charlie own a small gasoline station. At their wedding anniversary, of all days, Barbara finds proof that Paul may again have cheated on her. At first she believes his explanations, but when she finds more proof later, she leaves and seeks comfort in the arms of her former friend Nicola in Italy. The story is told from the perspective of her diary.

Heidi

After her mother's death, the five year old orphan Heidi is brought by her aunt to her grumpy grandfather Alp, who leads a hermit life in the beautiful Swiss mountains. Heidi's natural cheerfulness quickly brings renewed joy in grandfather Alps life. Heidi becomes friends with the goatherd Peter who is about the same age as her and spent two beautiful years in the pasture. But then she is sent by her aunt to Frankfurt in the house of Consul Sesemann where Heidi should get a proper education and upbringing. After some initial difficulties Heidi eventually adjusts to her new situation and makes friends with Clara, the paralyzed daughter of the consul. Only with the strict governess Miss Rottingmeier she keeps getting in trouble. Miss Rottingmeier clearly can not cope with the free and outdoors spirit of Heidi. But Heidi lets a fresh wind blow through the Sesemann house and even causes Clara to overcome her illness.

Gift im Zoo

Animals start to mysteriously die in a zoo in Hamburg. Is somebody poisoning the animals and with what purpose?

The High Life

Doris Putzke is fond of dating men in her quest to find the perfect one. In her brief relationships, she goes from one disillusionment to another, constantly deluding herself about the intentions of her lovers.

The Last Illusion

Professor Mauthner, after many years of exile (having emigrated in 1933 to the USA), returns to Germany in 1948. He can in fact return to his teaching post, but the rejection and petty intrigues of his reactionary colleagues and students make his work almost unbearable.

Die Degenhardts

A stuffy old civil servant is forced to retire during World War II, but when his son, a Navy submariner, is lost at sea and his city is heavily bombed by English bombers, his old patriotism is re-awakened and he determines to be of use to his country once again

The Visit

Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...

Rochade

At the centre of Peter Patzak's existentialist film noir stands the hopeless struggle against the arms mafia in Czechoslovakia and its connections with Austria after the fall of the iron curtain.

Anastasia: the Czar's Last Daughter

In 1920, an unknown 24-year-old woman was fished out of Berlin's Landwehr kanal after a suicide attempt. Since she has no papers and no answers to any questions, they soon assign them to the insane asylum Dallendorf. A co-patient believes she recognizes the Czar's daughter Anastasia Romanowa - who apparently was the only one who survived the murder of the tsar's family in 1918.