Rüdiger Vogler
Berlin, 1943, during World War II. Martha Liebermann, an elderly upper-class Jewish woman, faces the decision of her life: should the widow of the world-famous and revered painter Max Liebermann continue to try to obtain an exit permit from the Nazis or, with the help of a resistance group, should she flee to Switzerland?
In the middle of a performance at la Comédie-Française, an actor dies on stage, poisoned. Martin, member of the troupe and friend of the victim, becomes the center of everyone’s attention. Suspected by the police, he’s also chased by a mysterious organization, the Green Perfume, that seems to have ordered the murder. While leading his own investigation, Martin receives the unexpected help of Claire, an eccentric cartoonist in need of adventure. This unlikely duo will live an adventure across Europe to foil the plans of the mysterious Green Perfume.
Angela Merkel's decision in autumn 2015 to open the borders for refugees split the country - some praised the moral stance, others criticized the surrender of sovereignty. Yet what would appear to be well-planned activity is in reality a policy of muddling along, chance, trial and error. The Driven Ones is a chronicle of the refugee crisis which shows that the political actors are being driven along, crushed between self-imposed constraints and events that have spun out of control.
A young woman is discovered dead in a lake. According to ancient legends, there are spirits in the lake that draw you down.
King Alexander is happy with his commoner-born queen Marie, but their three children are puppies (actually switched at the queen mother Eliza's orders by chamberlain Corbinian, who put each in a basket in the river), then she dies mysteriously. 12 years later, the king still mourns, refusing to remarry any princess picked by his mother. Then on a hunting trip, he meets Theo, Fritz, and Lotte, three foundlings--who greatly resemble his late wife--raised by farmer Hank and his wife. Eliza decides to dispose of the princes by tricking them into attempting to seek infallible answers from the bird of truth, which requires two equally magical gifts, each likely to be transformed at failure into rocks.
How a revolutionary priest named Martin Luther changed the face of Christendom and the path of European civilization forever.
Actors Rüdiger Vogler, Hanns Zischler and Lisa Kreuzer reflect on their work in front of the Robby Müller’s camera for Wim Wender’s seminal road movie KINGS OF THE ROAD (Im Lauf der Zeit, 1976).
Actors Rüdiger Vogler and Lisa Kreuzer reflect on their work in front of the Robby Müller’s camera for Wim Wender’s seminal road movie WRONG MOVE (1975).
By chance Paul Kromberger discovers on the internet a photograph of the US opera diva Caterina Fabiani who is the spitting image of Evelyn, his dead wife. His unease and growing sense of alarm are transferred to his daughter, Sophie. Filled with curiosity, she leaves Germany and journeys across the Atlantic to make contact with this stranger.
Gwen has just discovered, that she's the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. Now she has to juggle with constant trips to the past, her relationships with Gideon and figuring out dark secrets surrounding the Circle.
Paris, December. A conductor of a choir is found mysteriously murdered, with burst eardrums. Lionel Kasdan, a police inspertor the verge of retirement, and Frank Salek, an official of Interpol, embark together on a hunt for the killer, and also to a secret organization specializing in kidnapping children.
Gwendolyn Shepherd is a normal 16-year-old, but her family holds a secret: A time-travel gene is expressed in the clan inherited, but not every member of the family is blessed with. Everyone is certain that Gwen's cousin Charlotte has the gene. However, someday Gwendolyn suddenly finds herself in London at the end of the 19th century and realizes that it her, who was born a time traveler. While she is not very enthusiastic about it she will do everything possible to solve the ancient mysteries of the red ruby.
In 1967, fate on a North German dike miraculously brings together the Black Forest cuckoo clock maker Gottlieb Dobischauf with his chosen one Leonore. The two marry, start a family and open the first cuckoo clock factory in the North, which achieves considerable success with the company motto "punctuality, precision, perfection".
Based on the best-selling psychology book by Paul Watzlawick, the film tells the story of Tiffany Blechschmid, a neurotic, moony, superstitious, contradictory and, no surprises here, single young woman in her late-twenties.
Throughout her life Marga has shown little feeling for her daughter Sofia. But now she reveals fear, wounds and a deep longing for her long-deceased husband Juris. She becomes increasingly lost in her forgetfulness and suddenly demands, like a child, gentleness. It’s an uncomfortable situation for Sofia who must now take care of her mother. Sofia’s growing realization that Marga’s past also affects her own gives Sofia impetus to make a sudden journey with her mother to Riga. This is where Marga grew up and where she married Juris. But the more Sofia learns about her mothers, the less clear it becomes who she herself is.
Yael Hersonski's powerful documentary achieves a remarkable feat through its penetrating look at another film-the now-infamous Nazi-produced film about the Warsaw Ghetto. Discovered after the war, the unfinished work, with no soundtrack, quickly became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record, despite its elaborate propagandistic construction. The later discovery of a long-missing reel complicated earlier readings, showing the manipulations of camera crews in these "everyday" scenes. Well-heeled Jews attending elegant dinners and theatricals (while callously stepping over the dead bodies of compatriots) now appeared as unwilling, but complicit, actors, alternately fearful and in denial of their looming fate.
After the death of his wife, the veterinarian Sebastian Brunnen and his daughter Kira move from Berlin to a small Moselle town to try a new beginning there. Barely arrived, he is confronted with a dramatic case: Because Sebastian has been diagnosed with the pathogen of a dangerous disease in a broodmare on the equestrian farm of Katherina Mohr, the responsible medical officer will also take precaution to euthanize the healthy horses of the farm. While the two get closer to each other privately, Sebastian realizes almost too late how lonely and unhappy his daughter is.
Following her parents' wishes, spirited seventeen-year-old Effi Briest marries Baron von Innstetten – a former admirer of her mother – who is twenty years Effi's senior. This marriage of prudence heralds the beginning of a humdrum life, far from home, for Effi. Innstetten devotes himself entirely to his political career, and the sleepy small town of Kessin has very little to offer in terms of variety. But then, one day, Innstetten's old regimental comrade, Major Crampas – a charming womanizer – arrives on the scene.
The young musician Katharina keeps afloat after completing her studies with odd jobs over water. But then her grumpy father Hubert suffers a heart attack - and suddenly Katharina has to take care of the catering company. When she learns that the company is about to go bankrupt, she tries to get the company back on track with wit and creative ideas. Nonetheless, the creditor bank is giving aside adviser Ben Hallbauer. First, Katharina is anything but pleased about this "watchdog".
French top secret agent, Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, is sent to Rio to buy microfilms from a running nazi. To do so, he has to team up with Mossad secret services.
A nameless woman keeps a diary as the Russians invade Berlin in the spring of 1945. She is in her early 30s, a patriotic journalist with international credentials; her husband, Gerd, a writer, is an officer at the Russian front. She speaks Russian and, for a day or two after the invasion, keeps herself safe, but then the rapes begin. She resolves to control her fate
Young Tiuri has to pass the final test before before being knighted by king Dagonaut. He has to pass a night in the chapel, what is suddenly disturbed by a strangers request of help. With his decision to help the stranger, Tiuri abandons his given task and starts into an adventure, that will shape the destiny of Dagonaut. On his journey he learns about the true meaning of love, friendship, courage and loyalty.
After much hesitation, the doctor, who fell in love, Peter Hauser finally managed to make his girlfriend Stella a marriage proposal. But when the two want to surprise his father Heinrich with the good news, the one holds much greater surprise ready: On holiday, he has fallen in love with the attractive widow Johanna and married her right away. Peter is anything but excited. He believes that Johanna is a notorious husband murderer. However, in trying to gather evidence of his suspicion, the awkward amateur detective moves from one fool to the next.
During World War II, the Germans converts the castle of Colditz into an escape-proof prison where recidivist escapees are imprisoned under one roof. The most accomplished escape artists are gathered there, brave soldiers who view escape not only as a challenge but as a duty, in order to harass and irritate German forces as much as they can.
On the news of his father's death, the successful city doctor Dr. Peter Haller to the funeral in his hometown. What he does not suspect: His father, also a respected doctor, has only faked his demise! With this trick he wants to persuade Peter, who had turned away from him many years ago, to take over the father's practice. But Peter is determined to leave as soon as possible. His attitude changes only when he falls in love with Stella, who is as beautiful as she is sensitive.
Claire, eleven years, carries with it a big secret. But neither her daddy nor anybody else will ever know. Except perhaps Eric, playing her boyfriend, who is not afraid of Uncle Etienne.
The life of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig in Brazil. He wrote the famous book "Brasil, País do Futuro" (Brazil, Country of the Future). He and his wife Lotte, in a mysterious death pact, decided to kill themselves in the week following 1942 Carnival, in Brazil.
Two young women sitting in a café on a summer day. Situations found everyday a thousand times over. But what happens when you try to depict this normality?
Medical student Paula Henning wins a place at an exclusive Heidelberg medical school. When the body of a young man she met on the train turns up on her dissection table, she begins to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, and uncovers a gruesome conspiracy perpetrated by an Antihippocratic secret society operating within the school.
The film follows a Jewish family living in Hungary through three generations, rising from humble beginnings to positions of wealth and power in the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire. The patriarch becomes a prominent judge but is torn when his government sanctions anti-Jewish persecutions. His son converts to Christianity to advance his career as a champion fencer and Olympic hero, but is caught up in the Holocaust. Finally, the grandson, after surviving war, revolution, loss and betrayal, realizes that his ultimate allegiance must be to himself and his heritage.
When a World War II bomb with two days to detonation is found in Berlin, Alex and his wife must work quickly to solve a 40-year-old puzzle.
Time traveler Frank is picked up by Luise and Theo while on their way to Berlin. Frank wants to find author Laura Luna and take her to the future with him. Frank finds Laura and they become a couple, but Luise shows up and makes it a menage a trois.
In a dying French mining town near the German border, the last miners are preparing to strike. Marek and Mimmo, two young miners and friends, have different views on the impending strike.
In the beginning of the Second World War, Germans, Austrians and persons without nationality living in France are sent to the concentration camp of Les Milles by France government. Commander Charles Perrochon is the responsible for this camp and he promises to the leaders of the prisoners to protect them from the Nazis. When France is invaded by the Germans, Commander Perronchon will disobey orders and his superiors trying to save these men. He gets a train, a ship and money from USA to send about eight hundred of these prisoners to the safety of Casablanca, in Marrocos.
August 1939. The fate of four young people, Ramona, Georges, Brigitte and Hans is upset by the outbreak of war.
A reluctant boxer is the focus of this unique French romance. Maurice dreams of becoming a violinist. But his father, a former boxing champion crippled by his bouts, has other dreams for his pudgy but strong 18 year old son. He wants Maurice to become the next Champ. Concerned about his son's lack of machismo, the father arranges a tryst between Maurice and Nora, an aging femme fatale. Unfortunately Nora's jealous husband suddenly interrupts their romantic interlude. Maurice accidently kills the husband in the ensuing scuffle. United by the tragedy, Nora and Maurice eventually fall in love. Maurice is then inspired to become a great fighter.
Lisbon Story is Wim Wenders' homage to Lisbon and films. A sound engineer obtains a mysterious postcard from a friend who at the moment is filming a film in Lisbon. He sets out across Europe to find him and help him.
Damiel is now married to Marion, runs the pizzeria “Da Angelo” and the two have a child. The solitarily remaining angel Cassiel is more and more dissatisfied with his destiny as a mere observer of human life and finally decides to take the great leap. As Karl Engel he soon gets into a dubious milieu and finds himself as the assistant of the German American Baker, who makes his money with shady arms deals and sends porno films east in exchange for weapons. Cassiel’s adventure turns into a “thriller” when he decides to put a stop to Baker’s game.
In search of freedom, Duchess Alexandra, cousin of Empress Sissi, leaves Austria and her violent husband to settle incognito in Paris.
A native of Sennwald, Anna Göldi arrived in Glarus in 1765. For seventeen years, she worked as a maidservant for Johann Jakob Tschudi, a physician. Tschudi reported her for having put needles in the bread and milk of one of his daughters, apparently through supernatural means. Göldi at first escaped arrest, but the authorities of the Canton of Glarus advertised a reward for her capture in the Zürcher Zeitung on February 9, 1782. Göldi was arrested and under torture, admitted to entering in a pact with the Devil, who had appeared to her as a black dog. She withdrew her confession after the torture ended, but was sentenced on June 18, 1782 to execution by decapitation. The charges were officially of "poisoning" rather than witchcraft, even though the law at the time did not impose the death penalty for non-lethal poisoning.
In 1941, those who had remained around too long to completely escape the Nazi blitzkrieg had one small, slim chance to escape persecution. They could travel to Marseilles and attempt to get the servile but still nominally independent government of Vichy France to grant them an exit visa. Then they could take passage to safer climes on one of the neutral vessels that stopped there. This drama, based on a novel by Anna Seghers, follows the fates of a small group of desperate people who are attempting to do just that.
Until The End of the World is an odyssey for the modern age. As with Homer's Odyssey, the purpose of the journey is to restore sight -- a spiritual reconciliation between an obsessed father and a deserted son. Dr. Farber, in trying to find a cure for his wife's blindness, has created a device that allows the user to send images directly to the brain, enabling the blind to see.
A criminal saves a cop's daughter from drowning, then forces the cop to shelter him from the police after a bank robbery.
Are you happy? You don't have to answer right away. There is an island in the Mediterranean where the question concerning happiness is taken very seriously. A man comes and is drawn into a confusing game. A child an a mysterious woman play an important role in the game. He is mistaken for someone else and gradually sees the possibility of leaving his former life behind and finding happiness on the island. Is this only an illusion which should be rejected?
Hans, a German director, is in Madrid to film a television production about the capital and the Civil War, 50 years after it occurred. Accompanied by Lucía, his editor, and Goyo, his cinematographer, he films shots of the modern city, searching for spaces and people related to its past. At the same time, he views materials related to the past. In this search, Hans questions the point of his project, and disagrees with his producers until he discovers a project that he is passionate about.
In Italy, set in the early 1930s, a missing Swedish millionaire (Erland Josephson) is the target of a journalist (Rüdiger Vogler) who sets out to discover exactly what happened to the man and whether or not he is still alive. The biggest lead he has is the millionaire's attractive mistress (Brigitte Fossey), and the story takes off from there.
Judith is a maverick reporter who is also seeking a satisfying relationship with various men. She finds corruption and power-games everywhere.
The norms of hospital practices are turned upside-down in this complex drama about how many rights are denied patients who do not conform. At the beginning of the story, a man is found lying on the side of the road and is brought in to the police station as a probable vagrant, but he has no memory and seems to have lost his powers of speech. Perplexed and defeated by their unsuccessful attempts to make him talk, the police send the man over to the hospital for examination by psychiatrists. After some time, it becomes apparent that he understands everything going on around him and is simply refusing to talk. This sets off a series of antagonistic actions on the part of the hospital staff, suspicious about his "purpose" in remaining silent. Although some explanation is discovered as to why he is this way, the supposedly sane doctors and staff come off looking like they may need treatment themselves.
Three actors portray scenes from the life of Sterling Hayden, with a particular focus on his appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Inspired by Hayden’s memoir “Wanderer.”
Germany, 1968: The priest's daughters Marianna and Juliane both fight for changes in society, like making abortion legal. However their means are totally different: while Juliane's committed as a reporter, her sister joins a terroristic organization. After she's caught by the police and put into isolation jail, Juliane remains as her last connection to the rest of the world. Although she doesn't accept her sister's arguments and her boyfriend Wolfgang doesn't want her to, Juliane keeps on helping her sister. She begins to question the way her sister is treated.
A theatrical group prepare Voltaire’s play “Alzire”. From this the ideas of Voltaire are examined as they relate to the present day political situation.
L'Etat Sauvage is based on the novel by Georges Conchon which won the highly esteemed Prix de Goncourt. The story chronicles the mindless racism of both the departing French colonial overlords and the emergent black Africans in a newly emerging African state. Laurence (Marie-Christine Barrault) suffers the outrage of her white acquaintances, including her former lover Gravenoir (Claude Brasseur) and her ex-husband Avit (Jacques Dutronc), for her affair with Patrice Doumbe (Doura Mane), an official in the new government. He in turn is ridiculed by his fellow cabinet ministers for stepping out with a white woman. The vilification escalates to such a point that Patrice is brutally murdered, and Laurence barely escapes the country alive, with the help of her ex-husband Avit.
Mourning for a lost relationship can be every bit as devastating as mourning for someone who has died. In this drama based on the director's own novel, a couple with an unhappy marriage agree to a trial separation. They try to patch things up, and at the same time other relationships begin to develop for them.
The story follows the life of a regular German women Leni Gruyten during the 1930s and 1940s. Through her interactions with friends, family and other people she knows, the regular folks' perception of the Nazi era is shown.
Documentary in two parts that blends dramatized reconstructions, personal reminisces and newsreel footage to tell the story of the flight of German refugees through occupied France to Marseilles in 1940. In 1977 Ingemo Engström and Gerhard Theuring embark on a journey through France. They trace the escape route of the German emigration in France 1940/41, documenting the places, talking to witnesses, relating the temporal layers. The film Escape Route to Marseilles that was the result of this journey, carries the subtitle “Images from a working journal (1977) on the novel Transit (1941) by Anna Seghers”.
Itinerant projection-equipment repairman Bruno Winter and depressed hitchhiker Robert Lander--a doctor who has just been through a break-up with his wife and a half-hearted suicide attempt--travel along the Western side of the East-German border in a repair truck, visiting worn-out movie theaters, learning to communicate across their differences.
Six days in the life of Wilhelm: a detached man without qualities. He wants to write, so his mother gives him a ticket to Bonn, telling him to live. On the train he meets an older man, an athlete in the 1936 Olympics, and his mute teen companion, Mignon. She's an acrobat in market squares for spare change.
German journalist Philip Winter has a case of writer’s block when trying to write an article about the United States. He decides to return to Germany, and while trying to book a flight, encounters a German woman and her nine year old daughter Alice doing the same. The three become friends (almost out of necessity) and while the mother asks Winter to mind Alice temporarily, it quickly becomes apparent that Alice will be his responsibility for longer than he expected. After returning to Europe, the innocent friendship between Winter and Alice grows as they travel together through various European cities on a quest for Alice’s grandmother.
In 17th-century Salem, Hester Prynne must wear a scarlet A because she is an adulteress, with a child out of wedlock. For seven years, she has refused to name the father. A vigorous older stranger arrives, recognized by Hester but unknown to others as her missing husband. He poses as Chillingworth, a doctor, watching Hester and searching out the identity of her lover. His eye soon rests on Dimmesdale, a young overwrought pastor. Enmity grows between the two men; Chillingworth applies psychological pressure, and the pastor begins to crack. A ship stops in Salem, and Hester sees it as a providential refuge for her daughter, herself, and her lover. But will Dimmesdale flee with her?
The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick is a 1972 German language drama film directed by Wim Wenders. It was adapted from a novella by Wenders' long-time collaborator Peter Handke. A goalkeeper is sent off during a game for committing a foul. He spends the night with a cinema cashier, whom he afterwards kills. Although a type of detective film, it is more slow moving and contemplative than other films of the genre. It explores the monotony of the murderer's existence and, like many of Wenders' films, the overwhelming cultural influence of America in post-war West Germany.
About two young men who come to the city in need of new experiences and some action. But life in the city is such that there was nothing left to experience. So the men imagined how one could live. But in the city there were other ideas about life. So begins the story of Philip Spade and Sam Beaumont in the city of San Fernando. The story of a life that we all know, but which never lived up to our expectations: a chronicle of current events.
Four actors analyze the nature of theatre for an hour and then alternately insult the audience and praise its “performance.” TV recording of the premiere at the "Theater am Turm" in Frankfurt/Main.
