So klang die DEFA - Filmmusik aus Babelsberg (2018)

In Syrien auf Montage

The film is a reportage showing the help of workers from the GDR in the industrial reconstruction of Syria. We witness the friendly relationship between workers from both countries, who are jointly involved in the construction of the cotton spinning mill in Homs. In impressive pictures the exoticism of the environment and the mentality of the Syrian hosts is shown. At the same time it becomes clear that the workers from the GDR become 'ambassadors of the GDR' through their collegial behaviour and good work.

Drei Frauen

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Becoming Black

In the 1960s, a white couple living in East Germany tells their dark-skinned child that her skin color is merely a coincidence. As a teenager, she accidentally discovers the truth. Years before, a group of African men came to study in a village nearby. Sigrid, an East German woman, fell in love with Lucien from Togo and became pregnant. But she was already married to Armin. The child is Togolese-East German filmmaker Ines Johnson-Spain. In interviews with Armin and others from her childhood years, she tracks the astonishing strategies of denial her parents, striving for normality, developed following her birth. What sounds like fieldwork about social dislocation becomes an autobiographical essay film and a reflection on themes such as identity, social norms and family ties, viewed from a very personal perspective.

Bowlingtreff

The “Bowlingtreff” is a bowling alley situated right in the centre of Leipzig opened in July 1987. At that time the quality of life in Leipzig and the whole GDR got worse. Houses collapsed because of poor conditions, public life and amusement was on a very low level. The “Bowlingtreff” was not merely an urban entertainment centre but a revolution in those days. Built with the help of hundreds of volunteers without permission of the state authorities in Berlin the building expresses a free and international architecture known as postmodernism. It is an architecture that was never seen before in Leipzig. Marble and parquet on the floor, a glass roof and beautiful pink pillars. The atmosphere was western as time witnesses remember it.

Hotel Astoria

At Hotel Astoria, the former hotspot of Leipzig, guests were served champagne and turtle soup while the Stasi listened in. Animated memories from times gone by.

Kommen Rührgeräte in den Himmel?

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Go Trabi Go forever

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Fotoshooting DDR - Bilder zwischen Propaganda und Alltag

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The Girl in the Lift

Frank, a tenth grade student, falls in love with his classmate Regine. His father is a well-connected plant manager in the GDR; Regine's mother is a single parent with four children. Regine wants to become a kindergarten teacher, but her grades are poor and she is not allowed to apply for technical college. Frank champions her and seeks an open discussion about these rigid regulations. But his criticism is nipped in the bud.

Next Year at Lake Balaton

Jonas and Ines are in love and want to spend their vacation together camping on the Baltic coast. But Ines’s narrow-minded parents intervene and insist that the young couple joins the family vacation. Problems arise, so everyone ends up traveling to the Bulgarian Black Sea on their own. Along the way, Jonas meets a beautiful Dutch girl who is going to India via Turkey…

Sugar Sand

End of the 1970s in East Germany: Fred and Jonas are close friends. The 10-year-olds live near at the German-German frontier. After the mother from Jonas has made an exit application, the boys have to recognize that they are soon separated from each other. But they want to dig a tunnel to Australia to meet there themselves again. When Jonas should leave the country with his mother this night changes everything.

3 1/2 Hours

August 13, 1961: The passengers on the interzonal train from Munich to East Berlin learn 3½ hours before crossing the border that the Wall is being built in Berlin. They have 3½ hours to make a life-changing decision: to get off the train or keep going.

Nobody Can Stop the Revolution

Combining collage animation and live action, this short depicts the achievements of the Chilean people under the Allende government and the subsequent reversal of this progress following the military coup. The collages were created by East German media artist Lutz Dammbeck; the Chilean artists Juan Forch and Vivienne Barry did the animation.

Ach du meine Liebe

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Atomic Blonde

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Tomorrow We Are Free

Iran 1979. The Islamic Revolution is shaking up the country. Dissident Omid, who lived for several years in the German Democratic Republic with his wife, chemical engineer Beate and their mutual daughter, hears the call from his homeland and returns to Teheran with high hopes and best intentions, bringing along his family.

Kranke Geschäfte

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Mord am Montag

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Chile Lives

This short, animated piece of agitprop fiercely expresses the hopes of the Chilean people.

Chile

This short animation collage uncovers the financial backing of the Chilean Junta bosses by the US. Screened at the 1976 Oberhausen Int. Film Festival.

A Stasi Comedy

East Berlin, early 1980s: Ludger is hired by the Stasi to spy on the oppositional arts scene in Prenzlauer Berg. But when he falls in love with the mysterious Nathalie, he has to choose between a life as a celebrated underground poet and his career as a Stasi agent. A choice that will turn back on him 30 years later.

Inside The Secret World of Incels

A never-before-seen look at the incel community, an online subculture to which multiple mass murders and hate crimes against women have been attributed.

Eric the King

Documentary about one of Manchester United's most flamboyant and controversial players, known to his fans as 'Eric the King'. The French striker relives his career at Britain's biggest football team, explaining his unique style and evaluating his success.

Bugatti: A Thirst for Speed

The story of the Bugattis of Milan and Molsheim, the eccentric family behind the brand: Carlo, the patriarch and furniture designer; Rembrandt, the troubled sculptor; Ettore, the gifted engineer; Jean, the unfortunate heir. Art and design. Beauty and luxury. The fastest cars. Races. The need for speed.

Self Portrait

The documentary is a portrait of an artist and a portrait of a deadly disease. Lene Marie Fossen was a gifted photographer who suffered from severe anorexia. Self Portrait is a film about the power of art and survival, but it also raises important questions about what treatment one who suffers from severe anorexia needs.

Bukowski: Born Into This

Director John Dullaghan’s biographical documentary about infamous poet Charles Bukowski, Bukowski: Born Into This, is as much a touching portrait of the author as it is an exposé of his sordid lifestyle. Interspersed between ample vintage footage of Bukowski’s poetry readings are interviews with the poet’s fans including such legendary figures such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Joyce Fante (wife of John), Bono, and Harry Dean Stanton. Filmed in grainy black and white by Bukowski’s friend, Taylor Hackford, due to lack of funding, the old films edited into this movie paint Bukowski’s life of boozing and brawling romantically, securing Bukowski’s legendary status.

An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder

In this second Q&A with Kevin Smith he now enters the homes of some of his fans in Toronto and London.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.

Meet the Raisins!

Meet the Raisins! spoofs musical documentaries with its use of anthropomorphic food characters. Through its historical perspective, the special also provided an opportunity to elaborate on the personalities and introduce names of the simple yet popular characters. It follows the California Raisins' humble beginnings, rise to musical success, fall from stardom, and eventual comeback. This includes "home movie" clips, scenes of the group's early days as the Vine-Yls, concert footage, and interviews with the people behind the success of the California Raisins including manager Rudy Begaman. The group is also shown performing various hit songs

Truth In 24

It's 24 hours of pure exhilaration, complete exhaustion, and it's not for the faint of heart or the ill-prepared. It is the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. But before you win it, you have to master finishing it. This film chronicles the dedication, the determination and the spirit required to not just survive 3,000 grueling miles, but to be in a position to win one of the greatest races in history.

Global Metal

In GLOBAL METAL, directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn set out to discover how the West's most maligned musical genre - heavy metal - has impacted the world's cultures beyond Europe and North America. The film follows metal fan and anthropologist Sam Dunn on a whirlwind journey through Asia, South America and the Middle East as he explores the underbelly of the world's emerging extreme music scenes; from Indonesian death metal to Chinese black metal to Iranian thrash metal. GLOBAL METAL reveals a worldwide community of metalheads who aren't just absorbing metal from the West - they're transforming it - creating a new form of cultural expression in societies dominated by conflict, corruption and mass-consumerism.

After Newtown: Guns in America

Explore America’s enduring relationship with firearms: From the first European settlements in the New World to frontier justice; from 19th Century immigrant riots to gangland violence in the Roaring Twenties; from the Civil War to Civil Rights, guns have been at center of our national narrative for four hundred years.

The Viking Sagas

Dr Janina Ramirez travels across glaciers and through the lava fields of Iceland to find out about one of the most compelling of the great Viking stories - the Laxdaela Saga. This hour-long film explores how the unique literary achievements of the Saga writers were possible at a time of such immense cultural, political and religious upheaval.

Lou Reed: Transformer & Live at Montreux 2000

Transformer was universally praised for its well-constructed anatomy of a touchstone album. Now expanded to interweave the original broadcast version with the bonus features on the original disc, the story appropriately begins with Reed remembering his days with the Velvet Underground and the importance of Andy Warhol in making them a New York-based phenomenon. These discussions provide more than the historical context for Transformer. Live at Montreux 2000 is a concert, released in 2005 by Eagle Vision. Reed performed eight songs from the Album Ecstasy plus a few older ones. From his days in the sixties as the main singer and songwriter of the Velvet Underground and through his mercurial solo career he has kept his audience and the critics on their toes with dramatic changes of musical direction from album to album. Underpinning everything however has been his unquestionable ability as a songwriter and performer of the highest class.

Joao Gomes: The Pitbull

‘Joao Gomes: The Pitbull’ covers start of the midfielder’s second year in England as he experienced becoming a father for the first time and a full Brazil international within a matter of weeks.

Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story

Father Edward J. Flanagan is a familiar name to many Americans, often for the Oscar-winning 1938 film starring Spencer Tracy about Flanagan’s groundbreaking child welfare organization. But the story extends far beyond that, to a man whose name and legacy are still well-known as far as Germany and Japan. Flanagan gained influence and admiration over the course of his life from Presidents, CEOs, celebrities and more, but none mattered more to him than that of the children for whom he tirelessly worked. A sobering reminder of this was during WWII, as Flanagan saw droves of former Boys Town citizens go off to war. In fact, so many former Boys Town boys named Flanagan as their next of kin that the American War Dads Association named him as America’s No. 1 War Dad.

Let George Do It

The film conversation centers around workplace safety and the concept of personal responsibility. Ron and Mary discuss Ron's recent vacation and then transition to a review of recent workplace accidents. These incidents include an electrician falling due to a missing safety cone, a worker getting a shock from faulty equipment, and a drill press operator injuring his finger due to an improperly secured backup bar. They identify a common issue: the "let George do it" syndrome, where employees assume someone else will handle safety checks. They emphasize the importance of personal responsibility in safety practices and propose using these cases in training programs to illustrate the need for vigilance and proactive safety measures. The conversation ends with a story from Ron about a past mistake, highlighting the critical lesson of not taking safety for granted and ensuring one's own and others' safety by not relying on others to always handle safety checks.

Kids Corner: Jasper's Hospital Experience

A 1984 special from Kids Corner that teaches kids what happens at the hospital.