Films

Finland, Germany 2023, 80 min
by Jesse Jokinen, Petri Luukkainen

A young gamer called Bona has, since a small kid, been trying to find his way in the harsh world of esports and now under a professional contract. Bona is very talented in CS:GO, but his mental side fails him every time he is on the verge of success, always resulting in second place.Bona seeks help from the world’s best esports psychologist Mia. The sessions with her set him on a path to self discovery to become a better player – and a person. Unexpectedly, another player – his old nemesis from the past – comes to steal his position in the team. The mentorship between the psychologist and Bona is in the key role, while he must figure out how to balance the conflicts, burden of pressure and his dreams before his professional contract runs out.

Germany 2023, 21 min
by Gianna Scholten

Two giants that exist here - a german fairytale confronts us with the right-wing spiritual movement in Germany, which gained a strong following during the Corona pandemic. In symbolic encounters, such as a train ride passing by the Lorelei, underscored by Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, original audio recordings from the right-wing extremist conspiracy scene are juxtaposed with the visually aesthetics of German fairy tales.

Germany 2022, 98 min
by Sabine Lamby, Cornelia Partmann, Isabel Gathof

Probably for the last time former SS-guards recently faced trial for their role in German concentration camps, as for a long time Germany's justice system had difficulty dealing with its countless unpunished Nazi crimes. However, already in 1963 General State Prosecutor and Fritz Bauer (1903-1968) aptly indicated that one should also prosecute small cogs in the machines of industrialized mass murder. Interspersed with stirring and moving first hand witness accounts of concentration camp survivors Fritz Bauer's Legacy not only reveals a fascinating history of why it took so long for justice to find its way into German courts but it also effectively illustrates its significance for a future without mass murders and flagrant injustices.

2022, 21 min
by Musquiqui Chihying

The Lighting aims to revisit issues of discrimination rooted in technological development and image production. Three professional Togolese photographers explore how to use instruments to compensate for insufficient exposure while shooting dark skin tones. A leading software engineer, developing facial recognition algorithms at Taiwan's MediaTek, talks about how a newly-created camera algorithm is very popular on the African continent.

Germany 2021, 45 min
by Jule von Hertell

Around 900 children were born in the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp between 1939 and 1945, only 2 to 3 percent of them survived. One of these children is Ingelore Prochnow. Left behind by her mother in a refugee camp after the liberation, she grew up with foster parents with no knowledge of where she came from. The place of birth 'Ravensbrück' displayed in her passport finally prompted her to research her past and her birth mother. The film deals with attempts at reconstructing events and preserving memory without having one’s own. How can you visualize what is so incomplete and sometimes only describable as a feeling? And how can today’s memorial sites and the available material be used for this? Only 40 survivors of the Ravensbrück concentration camp can tell us in person about this place and their experiences during the Nazi regime. Ingelore Prochnow sees herself as taking on this responsibility, and that is what makes this film important. [18 dokumentarfilmwoche hamburg]With: Ingelore Prochnow, Heike Rode, Klaus Prochnow, Frau SonntagHow is it possible to commemorate something about which you have absolutely no memory? Can you live your life as an eyewitness if you cannot give testimony as a survivor? These are the questions that plague Ingelore Prochnow, one of the last living concentration camp survivors. Her mother was pregnant when she was deported to the women’s concentration camp Ravensbrück because she had “intercourse with a Pole”. Ingelore was born in the camp and lived there until liberation, when she was one year old – a fact she did not learn until she was an adult. Ingelore then began to search for her history, and for possible living relatives. Her mother, maybe a brother, her father, and other prisoners, without whose care no child could have survived the inhuman conditions, all came up in her research, but the details remained vague. Ingelore has dedicated herself to keeping the memory of the Nazi period alive. She meets with survivors, speaks publicly, and does educational work, yet she questions herself, her role, and her search for answers. [63 Nordic Filmdays Lübeck]

Germany 2021, 204 min
by Michael Schmitt, Max Langfeldt, Thorsten Glotzmann, Katharina Woll

The Age of Enlightenment from today’s perspective: following Denis Diderot and the quest for knowledge, Thomas Jefferson and the idea of equality, Olympe de Gouges and the fight for freedom, Immanuel Kant and the concept of responsibility. A truly innovative documentary series. The period of Enlightenment began three hundred years ago. The goal was to bring progress, reason and self-determination instead of myths and ideologies. This 4×52 min documentary series – produced with ARTE – follows the traces of historic Enlightenment thinkers Denis Diderot, Olympe de Gouges, Thomas Jefferson and Immanuel Kant. In four episodes, we’re putting their ideas to the test, investigating their heritage in the present world: the principle of science and knowledge, the idea of democracy and universal human rights, justice and equality, freedom and responsibility.The series is hosted by Norwegian AI entrepreneur Anita Schjøll Brede, political scientist Emilia Roig, founder of the Berlin Center for Intersectional Justice, German actress Pegah Ferydoni and the Austrian philosopher Armen Avanessian. Our hosts travel the world, from Europe (Paris, London, Oxford, Oslo, Berlin, Zurich) to Ghana, Benin, Martinique, China and the United States, meeting the most important Enlightenment thinkers, artists and intellectuals of the present.

Germany 2021, 99 min
by Torsten Körner

FEMOCRACY tells the story of the women who, from reconstruction after Second World War until today, have unrelentingly fought for and improved women‘s rights in politics and in the country. They paved the way for Angela Merkel, the first female German Chancellor.The female pioneers literally had to fight for their place in democracy with success-obsessed and position-hungry men. Modern approaches to Aids education of a female minister lead to a conservative outcry in the country. Housewives realized that their vote counts and they started to stand up for themselves. Women in politics also brought new issues to parliament. Rape in marriage - which was not a punishable offence until the late 1990s - became officially chargeable. Abortion was subject to renegotiation as well. Still a criminal offence, it was no longer prosecuted. Thus women’s rights were strengthened more and more. Furthermore, topics like the NATO dual track decision were discussed by female politicians from a different perspective and therefore brought a deeper dimension into the debates of the German Bundestag.Undaunted, ambitious and with infinite patience, the female heros of FEMOCRACY followed their path and defied prejudice and sexual discrimination. Female politicians of the past get a chance to speak today. Their memories are bothfunny and bitter, absurd and sometimes frighteningly current. Interwoven with partly unseen archive excerpts, the documentary filmmaker and journalist Torsten Körner (Angela Merkel – The Unexpected) has succeeded in creating an emotionally moving chronicle of West German politics from the 1950s to the German reunification. The images he found unfold a force that allows the cinema to be rediscovered as a place of political self-assurance. An insightful contemporary document that makes an unmistakable contribution to the current debate.with: Herta Däubler-Gmelin, Marie Elisabeth Klee, Ursula Männle, Christa Nickels, Ingrid Matthäus-Maier, Renate Schmidt, Rita Süssmuth u.a.

Germany 2021, 217 min
by Maria Speth

MR. BACHMANN AND HIS CLASS is an intimate documentary portraying the bond between an elementary school teacher and his students. His unconventional methods clash with the complex social and cultural realities of the provincial German industrial town they live in.Where does one feel at home? In Stadtallendorf, a German city with a complex history of both excluding and integrating foreigners, genial teacher Dieter Bachmann offers his pupils the key to at least feeling as if they are at home. Aged between twelve and fourteen, these pupils come from twelve different nations; some have not quite mastered the German language. On the brink of retirement, Bachmann is eager to inspire these citizens-in-the-making with a sense of curiosity for a wide range of crafts, subjects, cultures and opinions. Watching this absorbing, sensitive documentary, one is overwhelmed with the realisation that, if only all children were blessed with such emotionally intelligent, ever-patient educators, conflict would be mitigated via discussion and John Lennon’s “Imagine” could be our reality. Those who, like filmmaker Maria Speth and her cinematographer Reinhold Vorschneider, are able to recognise and highlight so beautifully not only the importance of education but also what a quietly spectacular process it can be, are heroes in their own right, too.

Austria, Germany 2018, 71 min
by Gernot Steinweg

Scene 5 – By the Raging River (English film text / Translation: Leigh Hoch, Hamburg)COOLIE: We took the right route, sir. What we see over there is the river Myr. Though usually not hard to cross at this time of year, when the water stands high the current is quite strong and perilous. The river is high.MERCHANT: We must get across.COOLIE: Waiting up to 8 days is common before it can be crossed safely. It’s very dangerous now.MERCHANT: We’ll see. We can’t wait a single day.COOLIE: Then we have to look for a ford or a boat.MERCHANT: That will take too long.COOLIE: But I’m a very poor swimmer.MERCHANT: The water’s not that high.COOLIE : It is very high.MERCHANT: Once you’re in the water, you’ll swim. Because you’ll have to. The point is, you can’t see this from all sides like I can. Why do we have to go to Urga? Have you heard that roads and even a railway are supposed to be built across this region? Just picture it: there’ll be a bridge here and a wide road here; and have you heard that oil was found there?LEFT CHORUS: We hear that when oil is discovered, it’s hidden.Whoever plugs the hole the oil comes from receives hush money. The victims fall prey in the millions,yet the oil doesn’t come.MERCHANT: There will be food and clothing and God knows what. And who’s going to do that? We are. It all depends on our journey. Just picture it: that the eyes of this whole country, so to speak, are on you, on one little man. And you shy away from doing your duty?COOLIE: I’m not a good swimmer.MERCHANT: But I’m risking my life, too. I understand you. Guided by lowly, profit-seeking deliberations, you have no interest at all in reaching the town of Urga as soon as possible. Your interest lies in getting there as late as possible because you’re paid per day. So it’s not the journey that really interests you, it’s merely the pay.COOLIE: What should I do?LEFT CHORUS: Here is the river.To swim across is dangerousTwo men stand on the riverbank That one swims across, the other Hesitates. Is that one daring? Is the other cowardly? Beyond the river That one has business waiting.That one scales the surmounted riverbank Emerging from peril with a sigh of relief He sets foot on his property He eats a new meal.But the other emerges from perilGasping into nothingness.The weakened one is welcomed with New danger. Are both of them brave?Are both of them wise? Alas! From the jointly vanquished river No two victors emerge.COOLIE: We and: you and I That’s not the same.We achieve the victory And you prevail over me.COOLIE: At least let me rest for half a day. I am tired from all the lugging. When rested, perhaps I can get across.MERCHANT: I know a better remedy. I’ll stick this gun in your back. Want to bet that you’ll get across? My money makes me fear the bandits and forget the river.RIGHT CHORUS. Such is how man overcomesthe desert and the raging riverand overcomes himself, the human being,and garners the oil that’s needed. ________________________The complete German text is published in: The Brecht Yearbook 43 (2018)Bertolt Brecht “The Exception and the Rule” – learning-play with two choruses, edited critically by Reiner Steinweg

Germany 2011, 62 min

Louisa teaches us that hearing is much more than just the acoustic perception of sounds and language. She is 23 when tests show a total failure of her hearing organs. For her this is not a disaster but rather an occasion to take a decision. Modern medicine could restore her hearing by means of an operation. But Louisa is averse to what is celebrated as progress. Does she want this operation with all its risks? Wouldn’t it be just another act of assimilation? Filmmaker Katharina Pethke makes us experience the wealth of our sensual perceptions. You can experience music physically in the vibration of space, understand by reading lips and talk by using sign language. Images and sounds are uncoupled in a way that is neither artificially nor obtrusively coy. Silence reigns where it’s too loud and sounds that are usually drowned in noise are uncovered. After all, Louisa’s deafness doesn’t mean that she is mute, on the contrary: the young woman with the wild hair is an extremely talkative and moreover stubborn person. A person who communicates differently to the majority also thinks outside of conventions. Louisa’s wilful insistence that it’s not her that must change but the world is impressive. A clever idea in view of the state of our planet. Cornelia Klauß/ DOK Leipzig

Germany 2011, 75 min
by Benjamin Kahlmeyer

Recorded for all eternity: the ecstasy in Steven’s face when South Africa scores the first goal of the 2010 World Cup. In Extension 11, one of the countless districts of the township of Mamelodi, Pretoria, all hell breaks loose. For a brief moment Steven forgets what he calls the most important thing in his life at some other point in the film: ‘doing business’. A big term for the little kiosk that feeds his family. Set against the World Cup, MEANWHILE IN MAMELODI shows the lives of ordinary people who must hustle to get by. Moskito for example, Steven's gawky 17-year-old daughter, who confidently describes herself as a child of the post-Apartheid generation and is looking for a way out of poverty. Steven's wife is suffering from a mysterious mental disease that is kept at bay only by massive doses of medication. Another burden. No, life isn’t easy. But Steven steadfastly pursues his plan. In one of the most beautiful scenes of this very intimate portrait of a family Steven sings the song about the boss while he serves his customers. Everything is better than working for the man. An insight that is true whatever the colour of your skin is. (Matthias Heeder / DOK Leipzig)

Germany 1999
by C. Cay Wesnigk

9 year old Antonia would like to wear "real" earrings, but her friend told her the holes would be shot into her ear. Antonia decides to inform herself more thouroughly before starting such an adventure...