Kinescope Film GmbH

Germany 2024, 117 min
by Arne Körner

Dietrich Kuhlbrodt: Hitler boy, film critic, actor, senior prosecutor, screenwriter, punk musician, temporary porn commissioner, and family man! What kind of life, can it be, where all this just happens? On an adventure trip that takes us through the third reich, the nazi poisoned post war BRD, Paris and the reunited Germany we dive into Dietrich’s incredible biography. A trip that shows how to live five different lives at the same time with ease.

2024, 95 min
by Annelie Boros

Since my close friend took her own life, one question has haunted me: Is there a possible world she would have loved to live in? A world full of care and tenderness? The film focuses on four people who have put caring at the center of their lives: the father of a grown up son with disabilities, a 24-hour in-home caregiver, a climate activist, and a young man in a wheelchair who is building an inclusive housing project. All of them are often at the end of their rope. But they are committed to change. Without ever having met, they fight for the same cause: For a tender revolution.

2023, 90 min
by Constantin Hatz

A person took his own life. The suicide note comprised 67 letters which, in their given order, resulted in 13 words. 'Suicide. No autopsy needed. Hand over notes about my existence to Constantin Hatz.'In 2015, the director’s best friend took his own life. This person, who never found a new home after fleeing the Yugoslavian war as a child, wrote notes for years, contemplating his existence. They contain a self-reflection on his life, which was shaped by war and escape. After his death, a text was created from the extensive writings he left behind, which sets the documentary foundation of the film. Constantin Hatz uses an ensemble of six non-actors and actors in five episodes, to bring his best friend's thoughts into a cinematic plot. The choice of characters and locations has no direct connection with the author of the notes himself – but is based on five essential stages of his life. A truck driver, two guests in a workers' housing, a lumberjack, a nurse, and a theater actress reproduce this monologue in first person. These characters tell a life story that isn’t their own but has been lived by someone else, bringing the director's lost friend back into existence.

Germany 2023, 90 min
by Daniel Andreas Sager

It is the worst journalistic forgery scandal in German post-war history: Claas Relotius, numerous award-winning journalist for the renowned news magazine Der Spiegel, had fascinated the public for years with his spectacular features and extraordinary interviews. At the age of only 33, he is at the peak of his career when his colleague Juan Moreno, at the risk of his own reputation, is able to prove what Relotius really is: a forger and an impostor.

2021, 117 min
by Fabian Schmalenbach

Near Marburg lies the Fleckenbühl farm, a self-help facility where addicted people have the opportunity to start a drug-free life. The concept, which works without doctors or therapists and has a very strictly hierarchical system, is controversial. Newcomers have to hand over all their personal belongings, are not allowed to leave the premises unaccompanied for the first six months or have any contact with people from outside. For one year SOBER TOGETHER accompanies five addicted people on the Fleckenbühl farm as they try to lead a sober life, seems to be the last chance for a drug-free life.

Germany 2021, 89 min
by Marie Noëlle

His life story is a radical search for meaning in times of great upheaval. It raises universal questions about the understanding and responsibility of art, which are discussed in interviews with contemporary artists and build a bridge to the 21st century and the concept of art in the present.

2020, 90 min
by Jeremy JP Fekete

He was an icon, flamboyant pianist, egomaniac, showman par excellence: Liberace – the King of Bling – enjoyed an unparalleled career. The salon pianist turned megastar lived the American dream, but it was a life of unmatched paradox and eccentricity.He was an icon, flamboyant pianist, egomaniac, showman par excellence: Liberace – the King of Bling, led his life in the fast lanes between Hollywood, Las Vegas and Palm Springs. In the middle of the Californian desert, where Hollywood stars celebrated wild parties around private pools, he lived a paradoxical life of spectacle and secrecy, illusion and reality. His success is closely linked to the growing popularity of television and the American TV era. Scores of American housewives adored the musician who could play everything from jazz to classic. His public life was as paradoxical as his performances were glamorous. No other artist cultivated such an openly camp persona on America’s biggest stages while at the same time vehemently refusing to come out as gay, a façade Liberace kept up until his death. He was one of the first celebrities to die of complications from the AIDS virus, although his death was officially attributed to “heart failure” in order to preserve the memory of the one-man Disneyland. We examine his stellar career and its abrupt end in the context of America’s social and media history. Liberace’s story reflects the American dream – but also the country’s bigotry and the divisions of a rapidly growing society.Copyright pictures: Kinescope Film and Getty Images

2020, 52 min
by Grit Lederer, Paul Mellenthin

In the months of the war of 1870/71 and in the weeks of the Paris Commune photographers documented the scenes of the war with their plate cameras. This documentation accompanies the art historian Paul Mellenthin on his journey to the authentic places. It is the very special approach, a concentrated look at unknown photographs, which opens up new insights as well as the relevant question of the representability of war.

2019, 90 min
by Rainer Kahrs

An investigation into the German intelligence agency’s involvement in arms exports to war zones around the world.Tanks to Sudan, weapons to Myanmar or Yemen… Secret documents leaked to our film team after years of research prove that the German intelligence agency BND is heavily involved in arms exports to crisis and war zones around the world. The top secret missions are carried out so that they dodge the responsible authorities, and bypasss the War Weapons Control Act and international embargoes. Arms are shipped from a secret port in Ukraine which is not recorded on any map. American satellite images show the port where heavy-lift carriers load tanks, howitzers and other war equipment. Ships from at least two German shipping companies are involved. But the shipping companies are not acting on their own account. Emails from the secret documents show they are in constant contact with the BND, sometimes even operating at its suggestion. We talk to Niels Stolberg, former head of the Beluga shipping company, Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine from 2005-2010, and Mykola Malomuth, his former head of the foreign intelligence agency. Malomuth offers our team, the first camera team ever, exclusive access to the port of Oktyabrsk in Ukraine.

2019, 156 min
by Mechtild Lehning, Thomas von Bötticher, Christian Gramstadt

We explore some of Italy’s most beautiful islands: from the Tremiti Islands in the Adriatic and Sicily to the volcanic archipelago of the Aeolian Islands in the Mediterranean.Italy is one of Europe’s most popular travel destinations. And yet some regions are still largely undiscovered − especially away from the mainland. Flora and fauna make each of the country’s 200+ islands quite unique. We explore some of the most beautiful. Our journey begins with the discovery of an unknown archipelago in the middle of the Adriatic: the Tremiti Islands. It’s a mini paradise that remains completely isolated. Only two of the islands are inhabited and life there is simple, nature-conscious and steeped in tradition. Benedictine monks built the fortified abbey of Santa Maria a Mare on the archipelago 1000 years ago; its colourful underwater world is a paradise for divers. We continue to Sicily which was inhabited in turn by the Greeks, Romans, Normans, Arabs and Spaniards who all left their cultural mark on the island. We travel across the island and get to know inhabitants, the topography and culinary specialities. North of Sicily are the Aeolian Islands. The history of the seven volcanic islands can be traced back to 5500 BC. Alongside ruins and old excavations sites, the archipelago boasts some breathtaking scenery including the two still active volcanoes of Stromboli and Gran Cratere.

Germany 2018, 91 min
by Frauke Lodders

How does living with a seriously sick or disabled child influence the family structure? What specific role do the healthy siblings have? The documentary INSEPARABLE accompanies children and young adults from five completely different families and seeks to find answers to these questions in their everyday lives.

Germany 2017, 88 min
by Ulrike Pfeiffer

January 2017 saw the death of Werner Nekes, one of Germany's most significant experimental film-makers. He made more than 100 films, often closely linked to his gigantic collection of 40,000 cinematic artefacts. From 1967 to 1978, Nekes lived in Hamburg, at the time the centre of the innovative German film scene. In his capacity as professor at the University of the Visual Arts, he introduced his students to the ideas of radical cinema. Film excerpts tell of Nekes' "life among the pictures", along with conversations with contemporaries like Bernd Upnmoor, Alexander Kluge, Klaus Wyborny and Helge Schneider. An impressive portrait of a man who lived for film. The commentary is spoken by Hannelore Hoger. (Filmfest Hamburg)

Germany 2017, 52 min
by Susanne Brahms

On the trail of historical and modern-day book hunters: scientists, historians, book lovers and librarians who demonstrate untiring effort and often take great risks to preserve our cultural heritage.From ancient times to the present day, so-called book hunters have made it their mission to save, restore and preserve manuscripts, books and historical documents that are threatened by natural disasters, war or censorship. They are historians, scientists, monks, librarians and civilians who often put their lives at risk to protect our cultural heritage – books and manuscripts – against destruction in turbulent times, and preserve them for the future. The American Benedictine monk Columba Stewart has been travelling to war-torn regions of the world in search of ancient manuscripts for over 30 years. In Iraq, he supports the Dominican monk Najeeb Michael who has twice saved his library under dramatic circumstances from the clutches of radical Islamists. In the 1990s, Mustafa Jahic, guardian of Sarajevo’s last collection of manuscripts, saved 20,000 medieval documents by smuggling them eight times in banana crates across the besieged city, each time at the risk of his own life. From ancient times to the modern age, from Europe to the Middle East, we introduce courageous individuals, past and present, who have dedicated themselves to saving our cultural heritage for future generations. They are the secret heroes of history.

Germany 2016, 81 min
by Claus Withopf

Anne Clark, English poet and spoken word-artist, has been celebrated worldwide on stage for more than 30 years. Shaped by the punk scene, she achieved fame and success in the early 1980s with her new wave classics 'Sleeper in Metropolis' and 'Our Darkness'. By creating groundbreaking analogue synthesizer sound structures and electronic music she became a forerunner of the techno movement and has influenced an entire generation of musicians. The documentary reflects the distinctive style of Anne Clark and demonstrates the strength of her music and poetry: in atmospheric landscapes, experimental Super 16 mm images and text animation displaying verses of her explosive poems. Filmmaker Claus Withopf has accompanied Anne Clark for almost a decade and gives a deep insight in her life and work. He is visualizing her complex socio-critical work and is creating an unusual kaleidoscope of existential poetry and emotional music.

Norway, Germany 2021, 107 min
by Thomas Robsahm

A-HA - The Movie follows the Norwegian band on tour, telling the full story of how three young men followed their dream of becoming international rock stars. When Take On Me reached number 1 on Billboard in the US in 1985 the dream came true. But what does success do to friendship? Why are they not capable of spending time together anymore. Is it jealousy, vanity or something more complex?With unique access to the band, and never before seen archive footage, the film tells a story of great music, troubled friendship, big ambitions and the dark side of success.

2018, 52 min
by Margarete Kreuzer

Andrea Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini are among the most important artists of the Early Renaissance. Their work was closely interlinked and yet they remained rivals throughout their lives. Who were these men?Both born in Italy in the 15th century, Andrea Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini became the most important artists of the Early Renaissance, although they could not have been more different. The two painters, who were brothers-in-law, influenced each other’s work for many years, but throughout their lives they remained rivals. To this day, much about their work and biographies is unexplained. Dr. Neville Rowley, curator of the exhibition „Mantegna and Bellini” at The National Gallery in London takes a closer look at the exceptional painters. In a fictional inner monologue, the two men reflect upon their lives: their paintings, their relationship to each other, their family ties, their students and the difficulties they had with their aristocratic and clerical patrons. Do the artists‘ paintings contain any hidden references to their attempts to undermine the values of the church and aristocracy? Atmospheric re-enactments are shot in Venice, Florence, Rome, Padua and Mantua and their colour and lighting adapted to the Early Renaissance.