A young, naive and enthusiastic theater director named Kai comes to a grim provincial town to put on Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Although the lethargic theater company shows no interest in the play, his spirit remains undaunted.Meanwhile, it is fall 1989. The world is changing and somewhere, far away in the capital, a revolution is taking place and it seems that wishes might come true. Great hopes emerge in the little town and unexpected events overtake Kai's mutating production.
In the style of a documentary this tragic comedy tells the story of a relationship crisis between two married couples and their longing to break out of their miserable daily lives. In this East German post-wall movie Andreas Dresen introduces the sad everyday life of two couples from Frankfurt an der Oder in a honest and tolerable manner.
Halbe Treppe
2002
7
The brothers Kipp and Most set off to inherit their grandmother's estate. Along the way, they meet Viktor, a deserted Russian soldier who kidnaps them, and Nadine, who joins them voluntarily. On their way to their inheritance, the protagonists get into some seemingly hopeless situations.
Wir können auch anders ...
1993
7
Based on a true story, Miguel Alexandre's two-part drama focuses on an East German woman and the fight for her children. Spring 1982: Sara Bender, living with her daughters Silvia and Sabine in the East German town of Erfurt, wants to marry her colleague Peter, but shortly before the wedding, her father is killed in a road accident. As the funeral takes place in West Germany, she isn't allowed to got there, so she starts planning to leave her communist home country forever. Trying to flee via Romania, she is caught by the secret service. After years in jail, Sara is ransomed by the West German government, but without her daughters. To draw the world's attention on her desperate situation, she starts demonstrating at the Berlin border crossing Checkpoint Charlie
Die Frau vom Checkpoint Charlie
2007
6
In a small town in Northern Germany, a penniless German veteran is offered a job as a deliveryman by an alcoholic Turkish entrepreneur, through which the former meets the latter's wife.
Jerichow
2009
6
An eccentric East German inventor and defector travels to Los Angeles, California to sell a prototype revolutionary new car that runs on vegetables and produces no pollution, but he runs into one madcap situation after another to find a buyer and financier for mass production.
Driving Me Crazy
1991
3
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.
Hostess
1976
4
Elated by the Italian attitude to life, family Struutz returns to Bitterfeld and experiences a shock: In the turmoil of the reunification her house must give way to a golf course. Hope Udo teacher, his wife Rita and daughter Jacqueline through the surprising inheritance of a factory near Dresden. But of market economy, the staid Saxons unfortunately have no idea. Help comes in the guise of adventurer and condoms dealer Charlie, who works as a "business consultant" and gives Udo a Rock & Roll crash course in capitalism - with unsurpassed success.
Go Trabi Go 2 - Das war der wilde Osten
1992
4
OSTKREUZ tells the episodic story of 15-year-old Elfie, who literally and metaphorically inhabits a no-man’s-land between the two Germanies shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The film deploys a neorealist aesthetic to reinforce the difficulties confronting the girl, and by inference, Germany.
Ostkreuz
1991
6
Two friends fall in love with the same girl and end up in a situation that can only make everyone unhappy. In Forget America, it is also reinforced by the setting, a small East German town. Life in Aschleben is difficult enough in itself for David, who would like to be a famous photographer, for Benno, who desperately wants to open an American road cruiser store in his dreary hometown, and for Anna, who dreams of a career as an actress, but it is their feelings for each other that rob them of practically any chance of a little happiness.
Vergiss Amerika
2000
5
The law student Caroline and the assistant professor Tom are husband and wife, but they keep their marriage a secret. While Caroline is afraid of annoying her mother Hella who ever since her divorce twenty years ago distrusts men in general, Tom dreads the criticism of his professor, a family law specialist who objects to the concept of marriage. By chance, Caroline gets hold of some juicy information: Her mother and the professor used to be a couple and she is their child. With almost missionary zeal she addresses herself to the task of convincing the two grown-ups to get back together. In the process, however, she steers both her academic studies and her own marriage into a crisis.
Ich liebe dich - April! April!
1988
0
Based on a true story, Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution is the tale of a family from Bingley in Yorkshire, who defect to East Germany. Here they find a nightmare of rationing, censorship and the most spied upon people in history rather than the Marxist utopia they were expecting. But if they thought getting in was difficult wait until they try to get out.
Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution
2007
6
Scenes from an East German marriage. A young couple, Sonya and Jens, are very much in love; they get married and have a child. When Sonya wants to go back to work after her maternity leave, they clash for the first time; Jens insists that she remain a full-time wife and mother. Until Death Do Us Part turns an actual police report into a gripping drama, as the director explores the depths of his characters' emotions, driving the conflict to a catastrophic climax.
Bis daß der Tod euch scheidet
1979
4
Eva Jensen is a female carpenter form Hamburg who wants to make a new start on the Baltic Sea coast in eastern Germany. She tries to buy a workshop with a view of the sea offered for sale by Heide, who rents out beach chairs. Unfortunately, Heide’s ex-husband vetoes the sale. In trying to understand his reasons, Eva comes across a painful family secret from the days of the GDR. And in other respects too, the newcomer from the West faces prejudice in the village, although her skills are urgently needed. Fish-seller Christian is also interested in the workshop, which Eva just sees as fair competition. Then they discover a common passion, kite-surfing, and unexpectedly grow closer.
Ostsee für Sturköppe
2023
6
18-year old Georg and 13-year old Barbara have been playing together as children. Play becomes love later, which leads to a catastrophe , as their parents are hostile leading to file a report to the court, as Barbara is still under age.
Verbotene Liebe
1990
5
The crew of a small Saßnitz fisherman has problems with the "making a cultural socialist life". In order not to lose the competition prize again in the future, they want to show the organizer a collective weekend with all the trimmings. And they really do not mind ...
Hiev up
1978
5
The school authorities want to read success stories in director Joachim Faber's reports. But they cannot simply be produced on an assembly line. Pupils, for example, use the wrong tone. The matter draws circles until the superiors finally talk about refusal to work. Director Faber is caught between the efforts to resolve the conflict with pedagogical means and the pressure from above.
Der Direktor
1980
5
After the second World War, Dresden has a lot of reconstructing to do. To get the cigarette factory he once worked for running again, Kalle has to travel to Wittenberg - the only place where carbide can be found. Once there, Kalle find himself in the unfortunate situation of having to hitchhike his way back to Dresden, transporting seven heavy barrels of carbide. However, his inventiveness and optimistic attitude help transform the grueling task into an adventurous, entertaining, and funny journey.
Karbid und Sauerampfer
1963
6
In the summer of 1985, an American movie also ignites young people in the GDR: "Beatstreet" ensures full cinemas and subsequently a new phenomenon in the streets - breakdancing! The 18-year-old Frank is electrified and founds the "Break Beaters" with like-minded friends in Dessau. The troupe dances on the streets and soon forms the spearhead of the breakdance movement in the GDR. But sooner than they would have liked, the street dancers came to the attention of the state. And they like to keep control over the leisure activities of their youth. Because what the GDR cannot ban, it tries to control - ergo the project must become socialist! So breakdancing becomes "acrobatic show dancing" and the "Break Beaters" are built up as a showcase troupe, sent around the country and soon celebrated like rock stars. But fame comes at a price and Frank slowly realizes that the price is pretty high.
Dessau Dancers
2014
5
The supremely world-weary Lemmy Caution, last seen in Godard's "Alphaville" (France/1965), has several strange encounters while trying to make his way from the former East Germany to "the west."
Allemagne 90 neuf zéro
1991
6
Cold War adversaries Col. Jack Knowles and his Russian counterpart, Col. Valachev, are stationed on opposite sides of the German-Czech border. Both men are responsible for a group of troops in their remote settings, and both have been shaped by their combat experiences and a shared aversion to their superiors' ways of doing things. After a defector is killed, things escalate into a full-fledged battle with serious geopolitical ramifications.
The Fourth War
1990
5