HANFGARN & UFER Filmproduktion GbR

2024, 95 min
by Petra Hoffmann

On July 19, 1979, the Sandinista People’s Revolution in Nicaragua overthrew the brutal dictator Somoza and made the world dream. The construction of a new, more social and just society “between the blocks” seemed possible. Tens of thousands from all over the world travel to the small Central American country to support the young government and rebuild the plundered country.From what was then West Germany alone, over 15,000 supporters made their way to the small Central American country. In inter

2023, 90 min
by Dieu Hao Do

Director Dieu Hao Do examines the fragmentation of his family. The American War in Vietnam scattered them across three continents. Almost 50 years after their escape, contact between the seven siblings has all but broken off. How did trauma from persecution and violence inscribe itself in the bodies and souls of the survivors and their children? What has life in exile done to them over the years? Is communism to blame for the fact that they no longer speak to each other? After the fall of Saigon

Germany 2023, 94 min
by Lia Erbal

Brutal images show the history of the democracy movement in Hong Kong and its suppression. Activists in Hong Kong and in their Berlin exile explain the current political dispute between China and democratic states.The fight for democracy in Hong Kong has long been a battle of systems, as well as a brutal game of economic dependencies. With a collage of found footage, interviews with experts and sketches of the thoughts of young activists, the filmmaker paints a picture of a city between wild hop

Germany, Austria, Switzerland 2023, 100 min
by Katrin Rothe

Bertold Brecht called him one of the most important European artists. Rosa Luxemburg personally handed over the party book to the communist of the first hour in 1918. George Grosz and Kurt Tucholsky are among his closest friends and artistic companions. He gave himself an English name in protest against German warmongering. For the Nazis, however, the father of political photomontage John Heartfield quickly became one of the most dangerous enemies of the state. For years he is a fugitive in Euro

2023, 208 min
by Sebastian Saam

From Finland to Anatolia, we learn more about great lakes and their importance for the ecosystem. These habitats are often at risk. What strategies are there to preserve these bodies of water?They are thousands, sometimes even several million years old, some are even made by man. They provide refuges for animals and humans, are important for biodiversity, have aesthetic value and have inspired numerous myths and legends: Lakes. But although their discovery has only just begun, these wonderful wa

Germany, Canada, Finland 2022, 99 min
by Rick Minnich

A 76-year old engineer is on a mission: to connect the United States and Russia with a 100-kilometer long train tunnel beneath the Bering Strait.THE STRAIT GUYS follows Czech-born mining engineer, George, and his fast-talking protégé, Scott, along the proposed route of the InterContinental Railway through Alaska, to the Bering Strait and onward to Russia. The “Strait Guys” endeavor to convince international governments, corporations, and indigenous tribes to green-light their $100 billion railwa

Germany 2021, 90 min
by Maria Teresa Curzio

The internet giant Wikipedia just turned 20. We take a look at its background and the future of the online encyclopaedia. In 2021, the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia celebrated its 20th anniversary. With its philosophy of "knowledge by all, for all", Wikipedia has pushed aside all printed encyclopaedias. In total there are about 50 million articles in almost 300 languages. Anybody can contribute. But little is known about the individual creators of this vast pool of knowledge. What drives them t

2020, 102 min
by Frauke Sandig, Eric Black

What is consciousness? Is it in all living beings? What happens when we die? And why do we seem to be hardwired for mystical experience? In these times of existential crisis, there has been an explosion of research into consciousness - and scientists are confronting the Big Questions. AWARE follows six brilliant researchers, approaching the mystery from radically different perspectives, from within and without: through high-tech brain research and Eastern meditation, by scientifically exploring

Germany 2020, 104 min
by Jana Matthes, Andrea Schramm

Yaar is a young Jewish Berliner who dreams of being a game designer someday. He associates nothing with Judaism but lambs being led to the slaughter house. He accuses his father of suffering from the Holocaust despite never even having experienced it firsthand. Yaar rebels by developing a computer game: "Shoah. When God was asleep". He creates a virtual Germany of the 1940s where Jews can defend themselves and Nazis don't necessarily have to be bad guys. Then, his own family's history turns his

2019, 135 min
by Sebastian Saam

The unique eco-system along the shores of the Paraná River in South America is under threat. We travel to South America and meet people who are fighting for their future and the conservation of the Paraná region.A river like the sea – this is how the indigenous people used to refer to the giant stream shaping their homelands. In their language this translates to “Paraná”. Over 3,000 kilometres, the Paraná flows from Brazil to Argentina via Paraguay, along the mythical Iguazú Falls and the breath

Germany 2017, 96 min
by Sandra Budesheim, Sabine Zimmer

It is the culmination of every refugee story that is supposed to end with official asylum and resettlement in Germany: the personal interview with a case officer at a branch of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). The applicant and case officer meet on only one occasion. Asylum-seekers have to provide credible proof that they were persecuted in their home country. BAMF staff are responsible for deciding who stays and who leaves. They rely on the law, their common sense and their

Germany 2017, 52 min
by Marita Neher 

Equal opportunities and the distribution of power – what is the reality in European boardrooms today? In in-depth interviews, we look at the careers of three top female managers from Germany, France and Spain.Do women need a gender quota to achieve greater professional success? In Germany, legislation was passed in 2015 requiring 30% of top management positions to be filled by women. In France, a 40% quota has been legal reality since 2011 with fines of up to € 90,000 imposed for non-compliance.

2016, 52 min
by Christoph Rüter

They have written crime novels about an era that until now has rarely been the subject of crime fiction: the Third Reich, itself the cause of inconceivable crimes and atrocities. Dominique Manotti, Philip Kerr and Volker Kutscher have broken an unspoken German rule that the Third Reich should not be the subject of entertainment literature. The crime novel is now engaging numerous readers in a subject they would normally avoid. The film shows the three writers at work in Berlin, New York, Paris,

Germany 2015, 90 min
by Güner Yasemin Balci

In Islam, as in many other religions, sex is forbidden outside of marriage. What does this mean for young Muslims who live in modern, western societies? How significant is virginity for young people from immigrant families? For young Muslims, sexual autonomy is a constant battle against the values handed down by their parents’ generation. This film focuses on psychologist Ahmad Mansour, lawyer and women’s rights activist Seyran Ateş, Femen activist Zana Ramadani and the young student Arife Yalni

Germany 2014, 45 min
by Carmen Butta

Despite extensive surveillance a German film team managed to shoot officially forbidden motifs and gain surprising insights into North Korea’s everyday life. A seldom seen road trip across North Korea. A bizarre and beautiful country of contrasts, North Korea has long kept its citizens in an ideological freeze. But more and more ordinary people now have the cash to afford imported Western luxuries, thanks to new jobs across the border in China, and the emergence of a thriving black market. Membe

Germany 2014, 92 min
by Mo Asumang

THE ARYANS is a personal journey of Activist Mo Asumang into the madness of racism during which she meets German neo-Nazis, the US leading racist, notorious Tom Metzger and Ku Klux Klan members in the alarming twilight of the Midwest. A documentary about right-wing movements worldwide - and their completely wrong interpretation of ‘aryanism’ - a phenomenon which began with French philosopher Arthur de Gobineau and went on with the Nazis. Filmmaker Mo Asumang sets out for a tour de force into the