Mein Name sei Altmann

Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood

Eight hundred German filmmakers (cast and crew) fled the Nazis in the 1930s. The film uses voice-overs, archival footage, and film clips to examine Berlin's vital filmmaking in the 1920s; then it follows a producer, directors, composers, editors, writers, and actors to Hollywood: some succeeded and many found no work. Among those profiled are Erich Pommer, Joseph May, Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, and Peter Lorre. Once in Hollywood, these exiles helped each other, housed new arrivals, and raised money so others could escape. Some worked on anti-Nazi films, like Casablanca. The themes and lighting of German Expressionism gave rise in Hollywood to film noir.

Karpaten – Das Paradies der Aussteiger

Years ago, the two Poles Juliusz (92) and Krzysztof (77) decided to drop out. Since then, the wilderness on the shore of the Polish Lake Solina - far away from civilization - has been their home. In his small apartment in Masuria, Juliusz, 91, dreams of summer. All he wants is to escape to his cabin in the Carpathians, on the shores of Lake Solina, where he lives a simple, rustic life. Krzysztof, at 77, is a youngster by comparison. He came to the forest in 1981 to escape political repression and never left. He believes his life in the countryside is the key to happiness.

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.

Der unberechenbare Faktor

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.

Ein Jahr unter Ultras - Ein Leben für den Fußball

Documentary about the football ultras subculture in Germany.

Bruce Willis - Warum die Legende niemals stirbt

An in-depth look at the life and career of Bruce Willis, featuring never-before-seen photos and videos from the Willis family collection. Narrated by Bruce Willis.

Das Zugunglück von Radevormwald – Leben mit der Katastrophe

May 27th, 1971 was a rainy day. In the small town Radevormwald, the world seems to be still in order. But on this day, 46 people die in a train crash, amongst them 41 schoolchildren. Since then, Radevormwald has been connected with one of the worst railway catastrophes of Germany. The touching documentary reconstructs the tragedy and shows how much the event still influences the life in the town until today.

Im Kampf gegen den Weltfeind: Deutsche Freiwillige in Spanien

Nazi propaganda film about the Condor Legion, a unit of German "volunteers" who fought in the Spanish Civil War on the side of eventual dictator Francisco Franco against the elected government of Spain.

Children of the Revolution

Inspired by the student revolutions of 1968, two women in Germany and Japan set out to plot world revolution as leaders of the Baader Meinhof Group and the Japanese Red Army. What were they fighting for and what have we learned?

Ich. Immendorff

Documentary film about the painter and sculptor Jörg Immendorff who ranks among the most important German artists. The filmmakers accompanied Immendorff over a period of two years – until his death in May 2007. The artist had been living for nine years knowing that he was terminally ill with ALS. The film shows how Immendorff continued to work with unabated energy and how he tried not to let himself be restrained by his deteriorating health.

Deutschland im Herbst

The film does not have a plot per se; it mixes documentary footage, along with standard movie scenes, to give the audience the mood of Germany during the late 1970s. The movie covers the two-month time period during 1977 when a businessman was kidnapped and later murdered by the left-wing terrorists known as the RAF-Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Fraction). The businessman had been kidnapped in an effort to secure the release of the original leaders of the RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang. When the kidnapping effort and a plane hijacking effort failed, the three most prominent leaders of the RAF, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe, all committed suicide in prison. It has become an article of faith within the left-wing community that these three were actually murdered by the state.

Der Reichstag

Docudrama telling the story of a building with a breath taking career that began in the empire, flourished in the Weimar Republic, perished in the Nazi dictatorship, and was rebuilt after its partial destruction.

Feuerland

Volker Koepp documents life in the Dorotheenstadt in Berlin-Mitte, which was called "Feuerland" in the 19th century.

Nuit et Brouillard

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

Schwarz, Rot, Gold und Fußballfieber

Documentary about the German football team at the 1990's World Cup in Italy.

Waco, the Big Lie

Waco, the Big Lie is a 1993 American documentary film directed by Linda Thompson that presents video-based analysis regarding the Waco siege. The first film made about the Waco siege, Waco, the Big Lie gained significant notoriety when it was viewed during the trial of American domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh. As part of the defense, McVeigh's lawyers showed Waco, the Big Lie to the jury.

Rekonstruktion Utøya

This documentary picks up after the horror has ended. Almost 500 teens are in grief as 69 of their friends have fallen. They've been shot dead. How could this island ever become a safe place again? Here, we see how Utøya was first the safest place on Earth to the most terrible and how it was restored and stands as a beacon of hope for the survivors and the Norwegian people.

Gegenschuss - Aufbruch der Filmemacher

Documentary about filmmakers of the New German Cinema who were members of the legendary Filmverlag für Autoren (Film Publishing House for Authors). Among them are Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Wim Wenders.

Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68

This DVD contains a filmed rehearsal of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at the legendary Beat Club in Bremen, Germany, on 6th October 1968. The music is largely one long improvisatory continuous performance rather than a run-through of their greatest hits, but is punctuated by Zappa directing the band to play the opening themes of some of his more well-known pieces.