Mid-1950s Berlin, before the building of the Wall. Uschi, a salesgirl and aspiring fashion model from the East, is attracted to Hans, from the West. But she also loves the bright shop windows in his part of the city.
East Berlin is presented as an international city with modern possibilities for work and family life. In addition to tourist attractions and daily life, the film depicts the military parade for Labor Day on May 1 as well as the SED 20th anniversary celebration.
They are East Berlin teenagers. They want to be free—to dance to rock’n’roll, trade forbidden western goods and get away from the constraints of their parents and the state. This classic 1950’s teen cult film became a box-office hit and was greeted with suspicion by East German officials.
The Prenzlauer Berg band Herbst in Peking plays at an abandoned strip of the Berlin Wall and sings “We need a revolution. The system ain’t gonna change, unless we make it change.” This 1987 song accompanied the changes in the GDR, but at this point, this country is already almost history!
This documentary about renowned (East) German poet, playwright, and theater direct Bertold Brecht discusses the importance of his works in the social and political context of post-war Germany.
In 1945, the young Ernst Machner (Horst Drinda) returns home to start a new life. Although he would like to weave for a living, his comrades persuade him to become a teacher instead.
Susanne is a young, single mother who lives a somewhat alternative, unstructured lifestyle. After quitting her job, she finds herself in trouble financially and attempts a minor insurance fraud to make ends meet.
The fifth installment in Andreas Voigt's Leipzig series builds on and summarizes a decade of documentary filmmaking. Voigt revisits the protagonists from his earlier films in order to depict their lives in a reunified Germany and what became of their plans and beliefs following the Wende.
In a small East German town shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ulla, a sensitive and principled 10th-grader, meets computer-obsessed Winfried, son of a chemical plant manager.
The Chinese emperor has many concubines but only truly loves his first wife. When a jealous concubine learns that a child will be born to the emperor, she tries to remove her rival with a magic potion.