Sonja Ziemann

In March of 1945, as the War in Europe is coming to a close, fighting erupts between German and American troops at the last remaining bridgehead across the Rhine.

Hoping to restore his family name to the ranks of the great circus dynasties, Karl Urmann works with his children to develop a horse act. Having previously been injured in a trapeze accident that claimed his brother's life, Karl is trampled to death by a horse; with his dying breath, he begs his daughter Claudia to leave the circus and go live with her Aunt Paula. There, she works as a maid and secretary while continuing her training. After a few years, she is ready to stage her own act. She hopes to reunite with her brother, Freddy, who is currently in the US performing alongside the treacherous Matsu. With Patsy’s help, Matsu tries to persuade Freddy to sign a contract, but the young man returns to his sister instead. [Filming was halted in 1946 after DEFA management identified significant technical flaws. The footage is considered destroyed.]

Vienna, 1956. After Soviet tanks crush the Hungarian uprising, soldier-of-fortune Michael Reynolds is hired to help a threatened Hungarian scientist escape from Budapest.

In the winter of 1943, against the background of battle scenes, a young German Lieutenant who increasingly distrusts the inhuman Nazi ideology struggles with the concept of war.

The 18th-century French marquis recalls his sadomasochistic experiments and goes to jail for lewd behavior.

Lieschen Müller is in her mid-20s, works a dull office job and fancies the handsome waiter from the diner down the street, wishing for a more exciting life. In a vivid, lucid dream she happens upon a gigantic fortune, allowing her to live out her wildest fantasies. Quickly, however, she realizes that that's not what makes her happy.

Health officials from the World Health Organization link a smallpox outbreak in Europe to oil drilling in the Middle East.

A biographical drama is based on the 1929 autobiography of Swedish doctor Axel Martin Fredrik, The Story of San Michele. It follows the physician, psychiatrist, and adventurer as he travels the distances from Lapland to his Villa San Michele on Capri, with special stops in Paris and Rome. Personal physician to Queen Victoria, also physician to the Swedish royal family (he spent his last years living in the Royal Palace in Sweden), "Axel Munthe" knew everyone from the poorest clients to the most well-endowed. His love of animals, his support of bird sanctuaries, his involvement with architecture as he constructs his impressive villa throughout five summers, and his interests in archaeology and hypnotism are all explored.

The film depicts the first month of 1945 when the Russian Red Army broke into the eastern part of Germany and forced millions of civilians to flee in the coldest of winter. While the Russians invaded Ostpreussen hundred of thousands of civilians were evacuated by ships. Gotenhafen was the last open port and ships left the town almost by the minute, overloaded by refugees. One of the last ships to leave Gotenhafen was the 'Wilhelm Gustloff', a former 'Kraft durch Freude' pleasure cruiser designed for 1000 passengers. Until today it is unknown how many people were on board but it is said to be around 10.000. The ship sunk without a trace and only a handful of people survived this hellish nightmare.

Serge, alias Count Fornari, is hired by a mysterious employer to try to steal the Nabob, an exceptionally valuable diamond that Jeannette, alias Aménita (Perrette Pradier), the companion of a billionaire, wears as a locket. She covets the diamond and steals it from the safe. About to be caught in the act, she keeps it hidden in a handkerchief in her hand and manages to conceal it in Serge's pocket during the hotel ball. When she rejoins the billionaire, he asks her to open her hand, but the diamond is gone. The result is a chase full of misunderstandings and twists and turns between the three protagonists.

While working as an accountant in his uncle's factory, talented young pianist Peter dreams of becoming a famous composer. When he shows his work to a producer, he manages to convince him to give him a chance. From time to time he gets bigger contracts that keep him more and more away from home and his young wife Elisa. When he "discovers" and supports a pretty ballerina in Munich, a rumor starts that he's having an affair. He fails to realize that his marriage is threatened.

In a German prison camp, some Italian prisoners bet with the commander that they will be able to build a church in two hours.

On his journey through the Flemish province, Don Fernando, the king's stadtholder, passes through the small, bourgeois community of Terbrügg. There, he meets Antje, the mayor's wife. To impress the beautiful lady, he gives her his bathtub. It's a sensation in the small town, which has never seen such a tub before. Out of envy and resentment, Antje is pilloried for her "immoral" passion for bathing and becomes the laughingstock of the town...

Peter escapes a firing squad and leaves the island of San Quinto on a commercial flight to Bermuda. The plane is hijacked by a Nazi and San Quinto's Ex-General Cordobas who shoot pilot Pink and damage the landing gear of the plane.

The unsuccessful composer Daniel Mogge meets the photographer Eva through his runaway dog Blasius. He falls in love with her and a romance begins between the two. The envious neighbor Grusius, who is feverishly waiting for submissions for musical works, finds them through the open window: Mogge composes and Grusius steals. When Mogge hears his piece on the radio, the events come thick and fast.

Fatme has quite the talent for getting herself into trouble and escaping with her head intact. But when she's caught rifling through Caliph Omar's possessions, she finds herself in serious trouble. News of a theft makes the rounds and now the caliph's men are after her. Fortunately, she's able to find refuge with a sheikh, who isn't quite so thorough in checking his possessions. And it's thanks to him, that Fatme is able to get away with her newly acquired goods.

Reinhold Beckmann hosts a weekly talk show.

Der Kommissar is a German television series about a group of detectives of the Munich homicide squad. All 97 episodes, which were shot in black-and-white and first broadcast between 1969 and 1976, were written by Herbert Reinecker and starred Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller. Keller's assistants were Walter Grabert, Robert Heines, and Harry Klein who, in 1974, was replaced by his younger brother Erwin Klein.

Legends recount legends who dominated German cinema in the 1940s and 1950s – with stories that are funny, dramatic, and informative. Among others, Margot Hielscher, Peter Kraus, Ernst Stankovski, Joachim Fuchsberger, Margit Saad, and Douglas Sirk talk about their experiences with stars of the past.

Three agents stir up a hornet's nest of greed, betrayal, and intrigue.

This documentary takes an entertaining and informative look at the German Heimatfilm phenomenon. The first part examines the history of the genre since the 1950s, while the second part presents crowd favorites of the genre.