Hoferichter & Jacobs GmbH

Germany 2024, 90 min
by Markus Stein

West Berlin, 1979. Jürgen Baldiga, son of a miner from Essen, has just arrived in the city and decides to become an artist. Working as a rent boy and cook, he writes poems and a diary. After learning that he has HIV in 1984, he discovers photography. He intends his images to stop time and capture reality. They reveal his friends and lovers, wild sex, life on the street and the camp queens from the SchwuZ gay club who become his adopted family. Oscillating between despair and desire, rebellion an

2021, 75 min
by Michael Schmidt, Martin Striegel

On December 25, 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. Along with it came hope for the end of the Cold War, for independence and freedom for the former Soviet republics. But for many it also brought poverty and war. What remains of the dreams of that time? What does freedom look like today, which in large parts still has to be defended and fought for? We talk to contemporary witnesses and politicians of the decisive years, search for traces of the former multi-ethnic empire in Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Ch

Germany 2021, 86 min
by John Goetz

For many years, Mohamedou Slahi was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world. For 14 years, he was incarcerated in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay and was tortured under the brutal 'special interrogation' procedure. Today, Slahi is a free man, exonerated by two U.S. courts. After two years of intensive research, the filmmakers have been able to identify his tormentors. Some members of the torture team still believe he is guilty. Others see their former victim in a

Germany 2012, 91 min
by Ringo Rösener, Markus Stein

More than two decades ago, a country in Europe existed that marked the border to a different political and economic system, yet was the very heart of the continent. This country, called the German Democratic Republic, made Socialism a reality and was home to 17 million people. Born in the deep eastern provinces, Ringo Rösener merely witnessed the collapse of East Germany as a nation.Ringing in the new millennium, he leaves his home town of Anklam to live out his homosexuality – something he had

Germany 2012, 85 min
by Matt Sweetwood

Matt Sweetwood hails from the Midwest. He has lived in Germany for over ten years, but still the people and their culture remain a mystery to him. He undertakes a last-ditch attempt to figure the place out: By exploring the heart of German culture, their beer. If he delves into their rites and rituals, explores all the contradictions and stereotypes, will that make him, finally, a part of them? The infinite variety of beers, breweries and beer fests, the age-old history of beer, is more overwhel

Germany 2009
by Alexander Biedermann

In his debut, Alexander Biedermann encounters five hackers and questions both their very existence and the impetus for their actions. The film portrays hackers, who constantly re-define borders of computer systems. They all associate their experience with a particular feeling of power: Only a few command lines enabled them to manipulate crucial features of modern society. Though regarding themselves as keepers and guardians, the legal grey area and the conflicting individual goals and social nec

Germany 2009
by Olaf Jacobs

Everywhere on this planet, people move from the country to the city each week. Some follow a vision, for others this is simply the only way to survive. They hope to find work, education and better supplies. In short, they hope for a better life. But can this hope be fulfilled? URBAN FUTURE is a journey of discovery through the megacities of the new millennium. The series gives insight into how people live in these cities, how they take the initiative in order to improve their living conditions a

Germany 2008
by Rick Minnich

One week after a seemingly harmless car accident, a 45-year-old man suffers total amnesia. Christening himself the “New Richard,” he embarks upon a new life with a new wife far away from his family. Sixteen years later, his oldest son returns with a camera to investigate why his father’s memory never returned.

Germany 2005
by Rick Minnich

Hillbillies haven’t died off; they’ve simply become neo-hillbillies. Three families of musicians in the Ozark Mountains of Southwestern Missouri give new meaning to the word “hillbilly.” Float down the backwaters, soak up some old time religion, savor a washboard duel, and bask in the neon lights of the pseudo-hillbilly showtown Branson. Lean back and merge into hillbilliness.

USA 2008
by Rick Minnich

One week after a seemingly harmless car accident, a 45-year-old man wakes up with total amnesia.The doctors and family are baffled, as there is no evidence of brain damage or other physical causes.Sixteen years later, filmmaker Rick Minnich returns to his native California with a camera in search of answers to why his father's memory still hasn't returned. He talks with his family members, and reconstructs in detective-story fashion the period of time before and the years following the accident.

USA 2001
by Rick Minnich

Branson, Missouri. Some call it the new Nashville or the Las Vegas of the Bible Belt. Over the past ten years, nearly 40 theaters have shot out of the ground in this once sleepy Ozark Mountain town of fewer than 4000 inhabitants. Here in America’s heartland, country legends and television and stage stars from yesteryear have reincarnated themselves and offer up good ol' patriotic, Christian entertainment to six million tourists annually. HEAVEN ON EARTH follows filmmaker Rick MinnichR