Ralf Schenk  

Darya Khrenova — a documentalist and the granddaughter of Ilya Trauberg, a successful apprentice of the great Sergey Eisenstein — is trying to solve the mystery of her grandfather’s death at DEFA studio, which he headed after WWII. During the process of the investigation she finds her family, gains more confidence, and takes up a challenge from her grandfather by directing feature films.

The intricate history of UFA, a film production company founded in 1917 that has survived the Weimar Republic, the Nazi regime, the Adenauer era and the many and tumultuous events of contemporary Germany, and has always been the epicenter of the German film industry.

In 2016, DEFA celebrates its 70th anniversary: the film embarks on a journey into the exciting film history of the GDR. In a comprehensive kaleidoscope, the importance of DEFA productions is illuminated, the relevance of the films as propaganda productions for the GDR, which socio-political themes were in the foreground, but also which heroes DEFA brought to the screen and celebrated as people from the people.

Documentary about the East German director Frank Beyer, a remarkable man with a remarkable career whose films should be much better known.  

On May 17, 1946, Deutsche-Film AG (DEFA) was founded in Potsdam-Babelsberg. Until 1990, DEFA produced nearly 700 feature films, 750 animation films, 2250 short and documentary films and synchronized about 8,000 films from abroad.