Maria, a 19-year-old waitress, has an affair with a a much older man. When she learns that he is the judge who had sentenced her brother for subversive activities against the state, she confronts him, accusing him of opportunism and hypocrisy.
This biographical portrait of director Rainer Simon is part of a series of documentaries about DEFA filmakers by director Ullrich Kasten.
When an old man comes across a little boy in the middle of the rubble after WWII, a white lie starts the healing process. Based on the story by Wolfgang Borchert.
Tom, a 17-year-old window design apprentice, dreams about true love. One day, a new girl from East Berlin moves to town. Tom has a crush on her and will do anything to impress her. When he finds out that she plans to become an actress, he even discovers the aspiration to perform himself.
This multimedia collage, which includes performances by pantomime artist and dancer Fine Kwiatkowski, painter and filmmaker Lutz Dammbeck and musician Robert Linke, is a reflection on the medium of film and its elements: sound, light and movement.
Karl Erp is a middle-aged man with two children and a boring marriage. After starting an exciting affair with his intern, Miss Broder, he leaves his loveless marriage and moves in with his lover.
This documentary film portrays the history of Berlin from 1895 to 1945 and the efforts of the inhabitants as they work to rebuild the destroyed city after the end of the war. The film is a compilation of material from the DEFA Eyewitness weekly news features as well as additional footage.
This film documents the struggle of the city of Dresden in the years following the end of WWII and how, little by little, the city began life anew after the attack.
This black-and-white documentary shows the citizens of Potsdam rebuilding their city after its destruction during WWII. Emotionally sensitive images of the immediate post-war period provide evidence of the hard-working spirit of the population and their desire to begin anew.
The authorities expect the case of Friedel Walter, alias "Dr. Mueller," to be a straightforward one: he was working as a doctor without proper credentials under a false name. But Mehlin, the man in charge of his case, knows that there is more to the story.