Films by Reinhardt Beetz

2023, 90 min
by Nadine Neumann, Dietrich Duppel, Dana Wolfe

Examining the complexity of events in Ukraine since 2013, experts from all sides of the global political stage look at how the Maidan Square protests marked the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.EUROMAIDAN – DIARY OF A WAR FORETOLD examines the complexity of events that have unfolded in Ukraine since the Euromaidan protests in 2013/14. Ten years after the revolution that started in Kyiv, Russia invaded its neighbouring country. After years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, the entire country is now under attack. Was this development predictable? If it was – who could have stopped it? Together with Ukrainian documentary film-maker Alina Gorlova and international historians, intelligence experts and politicians, we analyse the history of the ongoing power struggle between Russia, the US and the EU for the first time, and we take a look at the direct impact this has had on Ukraine. Gorlova's outstanding film footage, some of which has never been released before, alternates between poetry and scenes of horror. It is a central element of the documentary and represents the voices of many young Ukrainians. The film decodes Ukraine's DNA, Putin's understanding of power, but also EU and US responses, by examining different perspectives, such as that of leading Eastern Europe experts, former members of the CIA and FSB, as well as contemporary witnesses who helped shape world politics and now analyse for us the complex geopolitical context. It is a story of wounded vanity, perceived isolation, but also of the civil strength of a nation that is still trying to find itself.

2021, 90 min
by Sagi Bornstein, Udi Nir

Follow the journeys of 7 YouTubers through a year like no other, in a bitter-sweet portrait of the Gen Z and our new viral world. Seven young people from across the world shared their exciting plans for 2020 when “virus” started trending online. From the pandemic, through to the BLM movement and on to the US elections – VIRAL DREAMS features over a year’s worth o real-time video posts, and depicts the surprising resilience of a new generation to a global change no one saw coming.

Germany 2017, 90 min
by Christian Frey, Carsten Gutschmidt

During the Leningrad Blockade the conductor Karl Eliasberg receives an unbelievable assignment: surrounded by hunger, cold, and death he must conduct Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony with his surviving orchestra. Against all odds he accomplishes the impossible: For a short moment the war is interrupted by the sounds of the ’Leningrad Symphony‘ waft through the city all the way to German trenches. It is the heroic story of an orchestra and the symbolic triumph of art over the savagery of war. September 8th, 2016 marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Leningrad Blockade.

Germany 2017, 52 min
by Christian Frey

The German invasion in 1940 is the beginning of a struggle for life for the Jews in France. Still, 75% of them survive the holocaust. For the first time a film recounts the circumstances of their rescue – and the civil resistance of numerous “Silent Saviours” who made this possible.

Germany 2016, 52 min
by Annette Baumeister

As children we practically devoured ’The Flying Classroom‘, ’Emil and the Detectives‘, and ’The Parent Trap‘ – with a flashlight under the covers. Today we ask ourselves, who was this man, Erich Kästner, who always smiled at us from the photograph on the book jacket? What kind of person resides behind the cheerful, witty, and at times aggressive façade? What is the deal with ’his doppelganger‘ and the ’other Erich‘ that he frequently talks and writes about? At first appearance Erich Kästner seems to be a transparent person, easy to grasp: a clever sceptic, who’s every spoken and written word can be taken with a grain of salt. A lyrical chronologist, who never wants to stop believing “that people could become better, if you entreat them, insult them, and laugh at them often enough.” He was an exceptionally gifted children’s author who absorbs and records children’s urban slang and haunts like no other. His clear language and sober humour has whisked children and youths off into the world of literature – from the 1920s up to today. The film, ERICH KÄSTNER – THE OTHER FACE delves into the world of a man living and writing on a razor-edge for decades.With: Matthias Bundschuh, Lisa Wagner, Henrietter Schmidt, Tomas Spencer, Clelia Sarto, Daniel Nerlich

Germany, Great Britain 2015, 90 min
by James Rogan, Harriet Shawcross

Over the past few decades, life for women across the globe has changed beyond all recognition. From the highest echelons of society, to the lowest rungs of the global ladder, a quiet revolution has been taking place right before our eyes. Convincing female role models talk about their experiences: the head of IMF Christine Lagarde, the Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, FEMEN activist Inna Shevchenko or Haifaa Al Mansour, the first woman to direct a film in Saudi Arabia.

Germany 2009, 60 min
by Christian Schidlowski (Christoph Tubbenthal)

The documentary tells the story of four Chinese social climbers in Hamburg, which are trained for a global mission. There is no other European city that is as highly regarded by these well-trained Chinese. But while other waves of emigration around the turn of the century formed whole districts, the Chinese influence on the European society apparently passed by unnoticeably. The film explores the main question of the daily challenges of our protagonists. What does it mean for them to live and work 8000 kilometers away from the own, mostly young families. Are they separated only for a period of time or for eternity?