Bird Waking Weather

Jette and Johannes have been living together for two years when Johannes suggests that they "legalize" their relationship. Jette loves him, but the proposal of marriage terrifies her.

Sugar Sand

End of the 1970s in East Germany: Fred and Jonas are close friends. The 10-year-olds live near at the German-German frontier. After the mother from Jonas has made an exit application, the boys have to recognize that they are soon separated from each other. But they want to dig a tunnel to Australia to meet there themselves again. When Jonas should leave the country with his mother this night changes everything.

Minna von Barnhelm oder Das Soldatenglück

This film takes place during the Seven Years' War. The Prussian Major von Tellheim has become engaged to the Saxon noblewoman Minna von Barnhelm. After the war, the King - in an unwarranted move - deprives the major of his honor. Von Tellheim becomes impoverished and, filled with shame, breaks off his relationship to Minna. An innkeeper in Berlin, who is a police informer, makes the Major move to a shabby little attic because he cannot pay his debt. In the meantime, Minna has also arrived at the inn. She and her lady's maid Franziska are questioned and spied on by the nosy innkeeper. Minna has followed her beloved Tellheim and she now cunningly manages to elicit a new declaration of love from him...

Next Year at Lake Balaton

Jonas and Ines are in love and want to spend their vacation together camping on the Baltic coast. But Ines’s narrow-minded parents intervene and insist that the young couple joins the family vacation. Problems arise, so everyone ends up traveling to the Bulgarian Black Sea on their own. Along the way, Jonas meets a beautiful Dutch girl who is going to India via Turkey…

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.

Schwester Agnes

Sister Agnes helps in all situations and does not only make friends. She has just fallen out with the new mayor. The consequences leave an entire community upside down.

Beyond the Blue Border

GDR, August 1989: Hanna and Andreas became a target of the secret police and had to give up their plans for their future studies and desired professions. Instead, they face arbitrariness, mistrust and reprisals. Their only chance for a self-determined life lies in fleeing across the Baltic Sea. Fifty kilometres of water separate them from freedom - and only a thin connecting rope around their wrists saves them from absolute loneliness.

Tomorrow We Are Free

Iran 1979. The Islamic Revolution is shaking up the country. Dissident Omid, who lived for several years in the German Democratic Republic with his wife, chemical engineer Beate and their mutual daughter, hears the call from his homeland and returns to Teheran with high hopes and best intentions, bringing along his family.

Kranke Geschäfte

Armin Glaser, a lieutenant in the Stasi, lives with his wife Marie and daughter Kati in Karl-Marx-Stadt. They put their sick daughter in the care of Dr. Sigurd. But Armin becomes suspicious during the treatments. He uses his rank in the Stasi to obtain information. But the closer he gets to the truth, the more skeptical he becomes. He suspects that the GDR is allowing West German pharmaceutical companies to test drugs on East German clinic patients.

Murder on Monday

Photo model Monika Stange is found murdered in her apartment in a major West German city. Detectives Bentheim and Laube find rough diamonds hidden in the apartment. The trail leads to a racketeering ring and the influential industrialist Dr. Vogelsang. The latter is not prepared to get involved in the murder case under any circumstances and refuses to testify. Inspector Laube tries to solve the case without his colleague.

The Girl in the Lift

Frank, a tenth grade student, falls in love with his classmate Regine. His father is a well-connected plant manager in the GDR; Regine's mother is a single parent with four children. Regine wants to become a kindergarten teacher, but her grades are poor and she is not allowed to apply for technical college. Frank champions her and seeks an open discussion about these rigid regulations. But his criticism is nipped in the bud.

Eine Pyramide für mich

A conference is to be held once again to discuss the construction of a new dam, which Professor Paul Satie rejects. During a train journey, he spontaneously leaves the train. Here in Wolfsgrün, from 1948 to 1950, he helped build the old, now far too small dam as a youth brigadier. He and the others who helped build it have erected a monument to this. A monument with his name on it. Is that perhaps why he is against the new dam?

3 1/2 Hours

August 13, 1961: The passengers on the interzonal train from Munich to East Berlin learn 3½ hours before crossing the border that the Wall is being built in Berlin. They have 3½ hours to make a life-changing decision: to get off the train or keep going.

Der schwarze Kasten

Interview with Jochen Girke, a retired East German Stasi agent, filmed March, 1990 to June, 1991. Questions explore his study of psychology for use as a filmmaker and trainer of interrogators and informers. Segments include conversations with his parents, teacher, former girlfriend and wife.

The Case of Detlef Kammrath

Until he was 11, Detlef Kammrath (René Siodla) had a carefree childhood. But now his parents have decided to go their separate ways and divorce - a catastrophe for the boy. The court awards custody to his mother (Karin Schröder), but Detlef harshly rejects his mother's new partner (Gerd Grasse). He sees him as the person responsible for his unhappiness. Hoping to improve the family atmosphere, his mother forbids the boy from meeting his biological father; this leads to Detlef's absolute despair, and he becomes a "case" for child welfare services.

That's How DEFA Sounded: Film Music from Babelsberg

When people think of DEFA, the film heritage of the GDR, they probably don't just think of film images, but also some of the timeless melodies that were created in Babelsberg.

DDR - die entsorgte Republik

Zielitz - Der Kampf ums Weiße Gold

Wenn Mutti früh zur Arbeit geht

Atomic Blonde

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

In His Shadow

After the death of their father, two half-brothers find themselves on opposite sides of an escalating conflict with tragic consequences.

Case 137

Stéphanie, a police officer working for Internal Affairs, is assigned to a case involving a young man severely wounded during a tense and chaotic demonstration in Paris. While she finds no evidence of illegitimate police violence, the case takes a personal turn when she discovers the victim is from her hometown.

The Stranger

In 1930s Algeria, the daily life of an indifferent Frenchman is shaken by the death of his mother and a fateful encounter on a beach.

Pamfir

When reformed ex-smuggler Pamfir returns home to his village on the Ukrainian border after working abroad for several years, he’s determined to earn an honest living and set a good example for his beloved teenage son Nazar. But in a town where corruption runs deep and crime and religion are inextricably linked, his plan is quickly thwarted when Nazar sets fire to the local church in a misguided effort to keep him at home. To pay for the damage, Pamfir must take on one last job for a crime syndicate operating a risky smuggling venture in a place where all the rules have changed.

A Sun

A family of four fractures under the weight of unmet expectations, unexpected tragedy, and uncompromising pride.

Mafia Inc.

The Gamache, tailors from father to son, have been dressing the Mafia family Paternò for three generation. Vincent "Vince" Gamache works on behalf of Frank the godfather with his eldest son Giaco. Vince, reckless and rash, seeks to earn his stripes by impressing the godfather. Without the Paternò knowing, he stages a big operation and is promoted. Fuming with jealousy, Giaco discovers that Vince committed a monstrous act during his stroke. The Gamache disown Vince and war begins.

American Murderer

The True story of how charismatic con man Jason Derek Brown bankrolls his extravagant lifestyle through a series of scams. On Brown’s trail: Lance Leising, a dogged FBI special agent determined to put Brown behind bars. When Brown’s funds run low and his past catches up with him, he plots his most elaborate scheme yet, pitting himself against Leising in a deadly game of cat and mouse — and becoming the most unlikely and elusive fugitive on the FBI’s most-wanted list.

The Inner Cage

A prison drama where an old mobster and a prison guard must find a way to coexist so that imprisonment can become less so, and perhaps reveal the paradox that is behind the very concept of captivity.

Togo

Togo just wants to watch his neighbors' homes, wash their cars and clean up their sidewalks. But the drug traffickers want more from him.

10 Days of a Good Man

A lawyer turned private investigator takes on a missing person case, propelling him on an unexpected and life-altering quest.

10 Days of a Bad Man

Battered, broken and bereaved, a private investigator must muscle his way through a tangle of lies to uncover the truth behind a mansion murder.

Only the River Flows

Dedicated police detective Ma Zhe is tasked with solving a series of brutal murders in a rural Chinese town. As pressure mounts from his superiors, a hasty arrest is made, but while his colleagues celebrate, several clues push Ma Zhe deeper into a desperate investigation of his own.

American Skin

A Marine veteran working as a school janitor tries to mend his relationship with his son after a divorce. When his son is killed by a police officer found innocent without standing trial, he takes matters into his own hands.

Snow Steam Iron

“Snow gently falls on the blood-stained streets of a seedy out-of-time New York City. Steam envelopes the nightmare unfolding within its narrow alleys. Iron is the will of the one who would dare to resist… fight… survive.”

A Cool Fish

Two criminals hide in the apartment of a quadriplegic woman after a failed robbery attempt. Her brother, a disgraced officer, exploits the situation to return to the police force.

The Insult

After an emotional exchange between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee escalates, the men end up in a court case that gets national attention.

Valan: Valley of Angels

Peter returns to his Transilvanian hometown, Valan, where a dead body was found in the snow-capped mountains. The investigation about his 22 years missing sister leads him to the maze of grave sins of present and the past, where he has to fight not only with local criminals but his own demons too.

In Her Name

In 1982, André Bamberski learns about the death of his 14 year-old daughter, Kalinka, while she was on vacation with her mother and stepfather in Germany. Convinced that Kalinka’s death was not an accident, Bamberski begins to investigate. A botched autopsy report raises his suspicions and leads him to accuse Kalinka’s stepfather, Dr Dieter Krombach, as the murderer. Unable to indict Krombach in Germany, Bamberski attempts to take the trial to France, where he will dedicate his life to Kalinka’s justice and the imprisonment of Krombach.

Dark Diamond

Pier Ulmann lives from hand-to-mouth in Paris, between construction work and petty theft that he commits on behalf of Rachid, his only “family”. But life catches up with him the day his father is found dead in the street after a long decline. The black sheep of a rich Antwerp family who deals in diamonds, he has left his son nothing, apart from the story of his banishment from the Ulmann family and a thirst for revenge.

Mystery

Lu Jie has no idea her husband is leading a double life, until the day she sees him entering a hotel with a young woman. Her world crumbles. A few hours later, the young woman dies beneath the wheels of a car. The police officer in charge of the case refuses to believe her death was accidental.