Ellen Widmann

In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.

In exploring sex offenses, particularly against children, this film reveals the inner workings of the Zurich police and INTERPOL as they pursue persons accused of voyeurism, rape, fetishism, sadism, and masochism. After the criminals are arrested and given psychological tests, they may be sentenced to an institution or undergo brain surgery (with their consent) in order to be rehabilitated.

Widowed baker Zürrer has to raise his three children, who all turn out to be disappointments to him in various ways.

Karl Tellenbach, called "Dällebach Kari", was one of Bern’s legendary characters at the beginning of the 20th century. Born with a strong hare lip which left him disfigured and gave his voice a peculiarl nasal tone, he devoted his entire life trying to get people to laugh with him instead of at him. Ultimately, his despairing at ever becoming accepted as a fellow man coupled with unrequited love made his life tragic, culminating in his suicide at age 54. His jokes are still well known today.

Josef Rainer is a road worker in a mountain village in Liechtenstein. His wife Marianne works as a waitress in a restaurant to improve the meager housekeeping money. Some people ask themselves why she has married that poor devil since she could have married into money. But she stays to the keen wood carver. He works out fantastic objects of tree roots, but villagers jeer at him. The family dreams to get a cow of their own to be more independent. One day Josef scrapes together all savings and goes to the cattle market. Due to lack of money, a clever farmer palms a skinny, sick cow off on him. The children Hansli and his friend Ludmila take the cow to their heart. Ludmila even lends her name to the animal. Some time later Josef falls from a mountain and is unable to work for a long time. So a decision is made that cow Ludmila which produces no milk has to be slaughtered.

The further trials of the wealthy Emmentaler farming family Jowäger and their neighbors, adapted from the second volume of the 19th century novel by Jeremias Gotthelf (pen-name of Albert Bitzius).

A policeman is not convinced that the prime suspect in a murder case is realty guilty and so decides to reinvestigate the case, despite the lack of co-operation from locals.

The trials of the wealthy Emmentaler farming family Jowäger, adapted from the 19th century novel of the same name by Jeremias Gotthelf (pen-name of Albert Bitzius), which was also published in two parts.

The film tells the story of Verena Stadler, a young woman who lives in a small Swiss village. Her mother, Katharina Waser-Stadler, is a strong and independent woman who supports Verena in her development. Verena falls in love with Wilhelm Waser, a man from her community, which leads to conflicts and challenges that they must overcome together.

In this Swiss film noir a private investigator stumbles onto a case involving blackmail and an oversexed, under-aged girl. He finds the girl, and, tragically, becomes involved with her.

Gottfried and Sophie Kummer live freely and independently with their six boys in a modest cottage in the countryside. Although the cottage has neither electricity nor running water and must be heated with wood, the small wages of a construction worker are not enough to meet all their obligations. Especially since the former owner, Mayor Lüthi, still has a mortgage on the cottage, on which the Kummer family must pay interest. And this interest makes life difficult for the Kummer family. Then a stranger appears who would like to buy the cottage as a vacation home. But for the Kummers, it is their home! Mayor Lüthi, however, senses a big deal, promises the stranger the house, and at the same time gives the Kummer family a final payment deadline for the interest until the end of the month. So it is the six Kummer boys who take up the fight to save their cottage.