Ilse Bastubbe

The Lübeck merchant Friedemann owes his crippled figure to a wet nurse "devoted to drink". He lives a secluded life with his three simple-minded sisters and his bedridden mother, loving only the theater and music. Only Gerda, the unhappy wife of the district commander of Rinnlingen, makes him blossom...

Open details →

Shortly before his retirement, Gustav Wanzka wants to return to his beloved profession as a teacher after years of working as a district school inspector. As soon as he arrives at the station, he meets the boy Norbert Kniep, his future pupil, who clearly surprises him with his questions. He wants to encourage the pupil, who is considered uncomfortable to the teachers but is very gifted in mathematics. With his highly personal views on educational goals, Wanzka stands in stark contrast to his teaching staff. Any innovations and even positive conflicts are nipped in the bud, and thus the pupils are ultimately educated to mediocrity.

Open details →

Even the military academy can't stop kind-hearted officer Gottfried Engelhardt from seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. Everything in the young GDR is blooming: Engelhardt's career, the socialist state, the black market, and maybe even a chance at love.

Open details →

Adaptation of the classic fairytale. Rapunzel lives alone in the woods, in a tower with no doors. Then, one day, a mysterious stranger comes for a visit.

Open details →

In a small town, everyone has tried to forget what happened shortly after WWII. That is, until a stranger finds a book that Jadup (Kurt Böwe) gave to the young refugee Boel (Katrin Knappe), who resettled in the town over 30 years ago. Painful memories about Boel and the post-war period begin to surface and shake up the whole town. Boel vanished back then and nobody knew why. Word spread about a rape and some tried to blame a Russian soldier. Jadup, the town's respected and popular mayor, remembers, though, how he mistrusted Boel and did not help her through this difficult time; HE didn't even notice THAT Boel loved him. Jadup's confrontation with the past gives him a new, critical view of his current situation and surroundings.

Open details →

The nurses and friends Anna and Annette grow desperate over men and love. At the hospital, Anna has fallen in love with Markus, whom she lovingly calls "moose", but they only meet twice a year, when Markus has time for her. In the meantime, she keeps afloat with flights of fancy. Meanwhile, Annette clings to the painter Ludwig who cannot stand such a close relationship. Through Annette and Ludwig, Anna meets an attractive married man but her high spirits do not last long.

Open details →

It's no big secret that twelve-year-old Hannes is in love with his classmate Carolin, who he compares to a beautiful white cloud in the sky. But when Carolin spends most of her time exploring the village's history with Benno, Hannes becomes increasingly jealous of his rival. The only person who is happy about this situation is Kerstin, who is in fact interested in Hannes. In order to impress Carolin, Hannes takes her and several others out for a boat ride in the nearby Bay of Greifswald, but his plan takes a deadly turn as a storm approaches.

Open details →

Two best teenage friends spend the summer holidays together in a village. Then a good looking teenage boy appears.

Open details →

Twelve-year-old Isabel and her mother, who was a famous political singer, had to escape Chile after the 1973 military coup. Isabel’s father stayed behind fighting in the underground. For six years, they have lived in a new apartment building in East Berlin. At first, the neighbors made an effort to welcome them, but later became more distant. Isabel does not feel at home in the strange country. Not even her friendship to Philip, the neighbors’ son, can change her mind. Almost every day, Isabel sits on the stairs waiting for a letter from her father, from whom she has not heard for many years.

Open details →

Elizabeth is an open-minded young person - curious and unbiased. She is sixteen, goes to secondary school and things are really going well, not least because her father, a Party member, occupies a privileged position. But then the father suddenly dies. Elizabeth feels lonely and abandoned, all the more so because her brother has long since severed all ties with his father.

Open details →

Open details →

The merchant's daughter Constanze, begs her father to ask a lion for a favor. Her father approaches the lion who agrees to his request with one condition: that he send the first person he meets upon his return home to the lion's den. It is Constanze. Against her father's will she goes to the lion and discovers that he is an enchanged prince and that only a woman's love can release him from the spell.

Open details →

Benno (Torsten Rennert), a bright boy from Berlin, is not really a problem case, although his parents have enough trouble with him. But that's not just because of Benno, but because no one really has time for him. During a train ride, he meets a pensioner Oskar Schrader (Erwin Geschonneck), who likes to cook, collect watches, master magic tricks and who lives in the middle of nature. Between them they develop a real friendship. Benno is allowed to spend his school holidays with his friend. The grumpy Oskar lives alone in a garden colony - with friendly and unfriendly neighbors. Benno enjoys playing tricks with his buddy Mutz (Thomas Hoffer) on this neighborhood including the cranky animal lover Irma Kalweit (Agnes Krause) and the rude daredevil Ralf Klotz (Henry Hübchen).

Open details →

Old Otto Gratzick is a porter at DEFA and a great admirer of Asta Nielsen. When the famous actor Hermann Gschwindner dies shortly before the end of his film, the director is looking for a double for the final scenes and discovers Otto in the movie theater, who has just been moved by Asta again. Otto takes on the task. He also places a marriage advertisement looking for a woman who resembles Asta. The first date with Astrid, who does indeed look like Asta, is a flop. Otto falls asleep. He tries again with her - as Hermann Gschwindner - and is successful. He is recognized in a hotel bar and asked to perform a song. Everyone, including Astrid, is entranced. After a few complications, his real identity is revealed - Astrid had also done a lot of work to look like Asta.

Open details →

Four years have passed since Alma and Dr. Kröpelin got married. The home zoo in Groß-Klückow is thriving and Alma is completely absorbed in her new role. But she still finds time to take care of things that, strictly speaking, are none of her business.

Open details →

10-year-old Kathy Montag moves to a big city in Brandenburg. Before that, she lived in the Harz Mountains together with her father Peter. Her mother has died a few years ago. The girl finds her new home very exciting, and since Kathy takes an interest in everything she encounters, she keeps finding herself in peculiar situations such as a brigade party or the shooting of a historical epic movie. Her classmates consider her an oddball and even her father is unhappy about his daughter′s development.

Open details →

Heinz is a well-stocked veterinarian in Klückow and his Jana in quite firm, although not always present hands. And now - as Aunt Alma is slowly getting rid of the concern for her beloved nephew - Dr. Kröpelin finally got his chance: he makes a marriage proposal to Alma. She would not be averse if it had not been his "bloodthirsty" hobby, the hunt. A get-together on the high seat is still not a desirable prospect for Alma. But the more she refuses, the tighter Kröpelin bites into his intention to marry her anyway, whatever the cost.

Open details →

After a wolf had killed a sheep in their village, 12-year old Roland and his friend Hugo keep track of the predator. Roland wants to build a trap to capture the wolf alive. His father, on the other hand, wants to kill the animal with the hunting collective. Thus, father and son become rivals. Whereas his father takes leave from his job to lie in wait for the wolf, Roland ditches school and tinkers with his trap.

Open details →

Using the example of three generations of a Hamburg working class family, the rise of the working class from the founding of the Wilhelmin Empire to the First World War, over the time of the Weimar Republic and National Socialism to the destruction of the Third Reich.

Open details →

Polizeiruf 110 is a long-running German language detective television series. The first episode was broadcast 27 June 1971 in the German Democratic Republic, and after the dissolution of Fernsehen der DDR the series was picked up by ARD. It was originally created as a counterpart to the West German series Tatort, and quickly became a public favorite.

Open details →

The story of a young, idealistic doctor and his on-the-job training as a rookie surgeon. Dr. Heiner Sommer moves to a small town in the GDR where he will complete his training under the senior physician, also named Dr. Sommer.

Open details →

In 1914 Berlin, bank heiress Leonore Wahl and struggling Munich student Werner Bertin fall passionately in love, defying class and her parents’ expectations. Their idyll is shattered by the outbreak of WWI: Werner, swept up in patriotic fervor, is conscripted to the Western Front, while Leonore, pregnant and abandoned, faces her family’s condemnation and a clandestine abortion. Set against the tumult of war, the film explores idealism, social divides, and the personal costs of duty and desire.

Open details →

Dr. Barbara Heim, a heart surgeon, and Gunter Heim, a well-known actor, have been married for seven years. They have a six-year-old daughter. Both partners are totally taken up by their work which is physically and mentally demanding. So there is little time left for family life and the strained relations worsen and finally plunge Barbara into a crisis - shortly before their seventh wedding anniversary. At this very point a child dies in hospital, prompting Barbara to ask herself in desperation if - and for how long she can put up with the double burden of career and family. On top of this, she notices that Gunter is starting to compare her to other women.

Open details →

A dead body is found in a burning car on the Berlin-Leipzig highway. The police investigate: Murder. Objects found in the car point to gold smuggling. At the funeral of the murdered man, his circle of acquaintances is scrutinized. They are all suspects. The trail leads detective Lindner to a bar.

Open details →

Colonel Maratka and Major Kalasz, employees of the Czechoslovakian defense forces, are facing a difficult task. They must complete a mission that is important for the security of their country. The Prague headquarters of the state security service had previously received information from the GDR that West German military intelligence had apparently succeeded in deciphering the secret code B/13 used in the field of missile armament.

Open details →

A new pupil has joined the seventh grade and - as is often the case - is met with scepticism. What is more: Mathias' classmates are angry because he is frequently late, goes home early and, on top of it, performs badly at school. They have to acknowledge, however; that he is very gutsy. This proves especially true when it becomes a question of passing a dangerous test: who can hold out longest in the ice cellar?

Open details →

Andreas works as an assistant in his father’s small-town bakery. However, he actually has other plans: As a passionate trumpeter, he wants to study music in Berlin. His father is less than thrilled and wants his son to take over the bakery. Therefore, Andreas decides to try his luck in Berlin and starts working in a wholesale bakery together with his friend Paul. Incidentally, the in-house band is looking for a trumpeter.

Open details →

Ev and Peter fall in love at first sight. Peter studies dentistry in Leipzig and is eager to work in the country. There is an unfilled dentist vacancy in his home village. Ev, on the other hand, is drawn to the city. Being a commercial artist, she sees no chance to find a job in the country. This conflict becomes the first real test for their relationship.

Open details →

Co-pilot Horst Schubert is a braggart and a true Don Juan. Thus, he tells young Ilse that he is in fact an "aircraft commander". This assertion brings about an embarrassing situation, for he suddenly meets her onboard his new work place, an IL-14 charter plane where Ilse acts as a stewardess. It gets worse, however: During a stop in Varna the police appear because Horst’s former lover Madelon has vanished. At home, meanwhile, his landlady has her hands full with her lodger’s current and former playmates. Ilse decides to put an end to this mixup and since the dull captain of the plane, Richard, makes no move to confront his co-pilot about his unstable private life, the smart stewardess appeals to the rest of the crew to help her teach Horst a few lessons in love.

Open details →

Film by Kurt Jung-Alsen.

Open details →

Frieda and August Walkowiak celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. However, the marriage has been in crisis for some time. August wants to spend his old age in peace, while Frieda has no intention of giving up her position as LPG chairman. The problems in the countryside are huge, collectivization is not progressing fast enough, even comrade Heinrich Rantsch is clinging to his individual farm. Frieda fights for progress, even in her private life, because not only her burden but also her higher position is a thorn in her husband's side. During the wedding anniversary celebrations, Frieda is called to the LPG. This is the cause of the family quarrel that has been in the air for a long time. August demands her resignation. In vain - and so he moves in with Rantsch. Their daughter Helga also leaves the house because of the tensions. Frieda collapses. When she is in hospital, August comes to his senses.

Open details →

Little Nelli is a clever and cunning child. As her parents are both working, her grandmother has to care for her. But her grandmother is no match to Nelly. Out on the street, Nelli also calls the tune and becomes the kids’ favourite with her brash pranks. But when Nelli enters day nursery, the situation changes completely. Suddenly, Nelli is no longer at the centre of attention and starts to upset the group with her aggressive stubbornness and to revolt against the rules.

Open details →

The important German wood sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider (born around 1460) is considered to be artistically and socially established. He was a councillor in Würzburg and held several offices. In his works and in the way he conducted his office, he showed himself to be connected to the common people, who revered him. But he also had a patron in the art-loving Prince-Bishop Konrad von Thüngen. But when the peasants' uprising spread to Würzburg in 1525, Riemenschneider stood up for the rights of the peasants and opposed the use of soldiers, Thüngen became his bitter opponent. Although he initially flees from the superior forces, he returns after the uprising has been suppressed and imprisons Riemenschneider. Weeks later, he is released from prison. His hands were broken, but not his steadfastness.

Open details →

A farmer who has fled the republic returns disappointed from the West to the village of Oslitz (GDR). He and his wife are supposed to get their house and farm back, but the case becomes the occasion for an unusual LPG meeting. The chairman, a comrade from the town and the farmers want to find out what caused the returnee to flee and whether it could have been avoided. The farmer claims that the chairman wanted to force him into the LPG because of illegal fertilizer purchases. He interprets his behavior differently. In order to clarify the matter and learn lessons from it, those present re-enact the events before the escape with reversed roles.

Open details →

Railway employee Fritz Marr is not regarded well by his superiors. It is the year 1920, and trains regularly pass the railway hub of Erfurt to the East to secretly transport weapons for the fight against the young Soviet Union. Marr knows about this and wants to mobilise other workers to stop these illegal deliveries. To muzzle him, Marr is relocated to a remote rail work construction site.

Open details →