Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and Gilbert Wolzow, are pulled out of school and into Hitler's army. Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier; but at the front, Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war. When Gilbert is hanged by the SS, Werner turns his gun on his own army.
This provocative portrait of the Bulgarian-Jewish scriptwriter and novelist, Angel Wagenstein (1922-2023), offers a fresh perspective on the past century. It takes viewers down unfamiliar historical and ideological paths and revisits the revolutions of 1989 and after with a critical eye.
Hamburg, Germany 1934: An executioner is needed. Teetjen (Erwin Geschonneck) makes the biggest mistake of his life. Because his butcher shop is facing bankruptcy, he agrees to execute a group of political prisoners for the Nazis. Once this becomes known, Teetjen’s life falls apart.
On July 14, 1958, the Iraqi government, which had close ties to the United States and Great Britain, was ousted in a military coup and the royal family and the prime minister were killed.
In an act of friendship and solidarity between two mining towns in 1929, the locals of Kriwoj Rog, Russia, give their flag as a gift to the locals of Bergstedt, Germany.
Dr. Blum, a Jewish manufacturer, is falsely accused of a murder. Even when the real killer’s identity becomes evident, the state prosecutor refuses to accept Blum’s innocence.
In 1973, shortly after the military Junta coup in Chile, three men—the worker Carlos, the student Juan and the government official Lorenzo—tried to escape to Argentina over the Andes. Along the way, they witness the murder of a farmer by Chilean policemen.
At the end of WWII, Alfons lives with his grandparents on a farm in a Silesian village. He adores his grandmother (Carmen-Maja Antoni), who runs everything after her husband dies. But everything changes after a travelling showman (Fritz Marquardt) arrives in the xenophobic village.
This short, animated piece of agitprop fiercely expresses the hopes of the Chilean people.
The film is also available with Spanish subtitles.
This DVD compilation chronicles the year 1948 through film.