St. Louis

Hamburg, Germany, 1939. Getting a passage aboard the passenger liner St. Louis seems to be the last hope of salvation for more than nine hundred German Jews who, desperate to escape the atrocious persecution to which they are subjected by the Nazi regime, intend to emigrate to Cuba.

Rothenbaumchaussee

Hamburg, summer 1945: The young English control officer Captain Hannes Hacker arrives in the Hanseatic city to initiate the establishment of a new, liberal German radio station - in the Funkhaus on Rothenbaumchaussee. But Hacker also has private ties to Hamburg. He was born here and lived here until he had to leave his hometown on a Jewish Kindertransport.

The Unpredictable Factor

In today's climate debate, there is only one factor that cannot be calculated in climate models - humans. How can we nevertheless understand our role in the climate system and manage the crisis? Climate change is a complex global problem. Increasingly extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and more difficult living conditions - including for us humans - are already the order of the day. Global society has never faced such a complex challenge. For young people in particular, the frightening climate scenarios will be a reality in the future. For the global south, it is already today. To overcome this crisis, different perspectives are needed. "THE UNPREDICTABLE FACTOR" goes back to the origins of the German environmental movement, accompanies today's activists in the Rhineland in their fight against the coal industry and gives a voice to scientists from climate research, ethnology and psychology.

Helmut Schmidt - Questions of life

On December 23, 2013, former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt will be 95 years old. As the second Social Democratic head of government in the Federal Republic of Germany, he shaped the country like few other chancellors. Even 30 years after the end of his time in government, he is still a highly esteemed expert whose advice and opinions are in demand. He is one of the most popular chancellors among the population and is held in the highest esteem by his party; even his political opponents at the time pay him the greatest respect.

Love Eats Up Life

A documentary about the underground singer-songwriter Tobias Gruben, his upbringing and his musical career, featuring past live perfomances by himself and cover versions of his songs by contemporary artists.

DJ Punk: The Photographer Daniel Josefsohn

Nobody captured the atmosphere of 1990s Berlin better than German photographer Daniel Josefsohn, who died in 2016 at the age of 54, leaving his mark in advertising with his irreverent aesthetic and punk sensibility. It was his spontaneous, imperfect images shot for an MTV campaign in 1994 that first made him famous.

Die Unsichtbaren

The film follows the career of detective inspector Marianne Atzeroth-Freier through the Hamburg police force of the 80s and 90s. At the end of the 70s, Marianne is 30 years old and a single parent; she becomes one of Hamburg's first female police officers. Marianne is one of the first women ever to be promoted to the Hamburg homicide squad. The opposing forces in this male-dominated world are strong, she is not really taken seriously and is even bullied along the way, until she comes to the attention of the furrier Lutz R.. Against the considerable resistance of her superior, Marianne investigates in her spare time and makes a significant contribution to solving the case of the "acid barrel murderer".

Glimpses of Western Germany

This James A. FitzPatrick Traveltalks short visits the West German cities of Hamburg, Bremen, Munich, and Heidelberg. Included are scenes of World War II destruction that lingered at the time.

Wir Werden Immer Weitergehen

Slowly Forgetting Your Faces

Two men, the hint of a sofa corner and a pile of letters. Using minimalist means, the film tells the story of two brothers caught between exile in a foreign country and resistance in the underground. It takes us back to the time when the revolution seized power in Iran and tells of life between the fronts. Daniel Asadi Faezi sketches the story of his father and his brothers - based on correspondence that has lain in the cellar for 30 years.

Kinokinokino

What was cinema in the past? What is cinema today? Hamburg filmmaker Dennis Albrecht asked himself these questions as he sifted through material he had been collecting since a project idea in 2008. Since then, he has repeatedly taken cameras into cinemas that no longer exist. He shot commercials, short films or events at the Grindel-Kino, Streit's, Rialto and Savoy and many other Hamburg movie theaters. In these personal perspectives, we see many cultural places that have disappeared.

Die Geschichte von Ottensen

A documentary about the history of Hamburg-Ottensen

Noch einmal HH 4: Reeperbahn nebenan

A portrait of St. Pauli and its people.

Amandastraße 73

Short-documentary about the squat at Amandastraße 73 in Hamburg.

Hamburg-Hohenfelde - Eine Mieterinitiative kämpft um ihr Viertel

Short documentary about a Hamburg tenants' initiative that is fighting for its neighborhood.

Dein Land ist mein Land

Ayşe Polat grows up in Hafenstraße in Hamburg in the 1980s. The 15-year-old is surrounded by crime and is quickly pigeonholed by outsiders because of her living situation. However, the criminal environment doesn't say much about the person.

Buy Buy St. Pauli - über die Kämpfe um die Esso-Häuser

In this long-term documentary, a film team follows the struggle of the residents of the Esso houses and their supporters. They filmed numerous demonstrations, were present at subversive actions and chest mobs, documented neighborhood meetings and captured insights into lovingly furnished living rooms - right up to the packing of the moving boxes. The film aims to ask important questions: Was the demolition really unavoidable? Should the ownership of ruins be rewarded with tailor-made development plans? Not only activists from the Esso-Häuser initiative and residents, neighbors and tradespeople have their say, but also politicians, investors and a star architect.

Würd'st Du ihn Sonntag Nachmittag zum Kaffee einladen?

A group of punks is observed and interviewed on a square in Hamburg-Ottensen. In close-ups, characteristic details of the outward appearance of punks and their provocative behavior are presented. The reactions of passengers and the owners of surrounding stores are recorded; some act emphatically tolerant and understanding, others reject them...

Charlie's Angels

Elena Houghlin is a scientist, engineer and inventor of Calisto -- a sustainable energy source that will revolutionize the way people use power. It will be ready as soon as she works out the last issue, if not it could be turned into a dangerous weapon. But when the cutting edge technology is pushed to an investor before she can do that, Elena turns to the Townsend Agency for help. Now, it's up to the Angels -- Jane, Sabina, and the newly recruited Elena -- to retrieve Calisto before it can be transformed into a weapon of mass destruction.

Short Sharp Shock

Gabriel, Bobby and Costa are old friends from Altona, a multicultural hood in Hamburg. Just out of prison, Gabriel wants to turn his back on crime, but the others continue to operate as petty criminals. Friendships are tested as the trio navigate a dark world of mafia bosses and deals gone wrong.