Aribert Grimmer

Salem 1692. The young Abigail, seduced and abandoned by John Proctor, accuses John's wife of being a witch in revenge. A series of tragic trials soon befall Salem as fear and suspicion blur the lines of reality.

This film is set in a medieval mill town in the Harz mountains. The greedy and brutal millman and his accomplices, the castle steward and the mayor, set fire to a forest mill that the farmers used for processing their grain. Without their mill, the farmers must now rely on the millman's services. When the farmhand Anna uncovers the millman’s crimes, he swiftly detains her and a young miller, Jörg. The forest spirits have a different plan, however, and they free the young couple with the charge to rebuild the ruined forest mill and turn things around for the villagers.

East German propaganda film about an American army base trying to take away land from a West German village.

The bricklayer Ulli has received a letter from his girlfriend Sabine asking him to come to her from Berlin as soon as possible. Sabine works as a sales clerk in a small village in the Zittau Mountains near the border with Czechoslovakia. However, when Ulli arrives at the station, Sabine is not waiting for him. He goes alone to the Fuchsbau inn. Sabine's friend Traudel only knows that Sabine has made her way to the station. When she notices that Sabine's room has been cleared out, she calls the police. All the police find in Sabine's room is a map showing a trip to Hamburg. They now consider Sabine to be a fugitive from the republic.

A novelty in German post-war history: a young woman becomes mayor in a village. She is efficient and enjoys respect, but soon enough two villagers disagree with her work. In her predecessor, a prominent farmer, she has a bitter enemy. But even her boyhood friend, who wants to marry her as he returns home from captivity, can not accept that his future wife holds such an office.

On his travels, Paul, a journeyman from northern Germany, runs into a childhood friend, Lisei, a puppeteer's daughter. They fall in love and get married. Together with Lisei's father, the young couple moves to Paul's hometown. Although Paul himself is accepted - even respected - by the stuck-up and snooty citizens, the young woman is rejected by the town dwellers, who are imbued with class arrogance. Paul stands up for his wife but the scorn and abuse heaped on her weigh heavily upon him.

In 1523, young Thomas Müntzer arrives with his wife Ottilie in the Thuringian village Allstedt to assume the rectorate. As a follower of Luther′s teachings, he finds in the Bible not only reasons for clerical, but also for secular reforms. But when Luther turns away from the rural population after a discord with Müntzer, it is Müntzer who becomes the peoples′ spokesman. He is forced to go to Southern Germany, where he convenes with revolting farmers. But his way leads him back to Thuringia. In 1525, he and Heinrich Pfeiffer form the centre of the Thuringian peasant uprising in Mühlhausen, but their success is diminished by the fact that peasants and craftsmen don′t seem to be able to work together. In Frankenhausen, Müntzer becomes the leader of a peasants′ army that is set to fighting the ruler′s army – and sustains a devastating loss. Müntzer is arrested and sentenced to death by decapitation for his insurgency.

Professor Sonnenbruck is a scientist who is not particularly interested in politics. Even the meeting in 1943 with his former assistant Peters does not change him. He does not betray Peters, who has escaped from a concentration camp, but that is already enough for him. But after the war Sonnenrbruck gets into a conflict of conscience. He thought that science was finally free of politics again only to find the opposite happening at his university in Göttingen. A medical congress in the GDR brings him together with Peters, who is working on a major research contract there. Sonnenbruck decides to visit Peters.

Germany in 1949: The residents of the Thuringian village Hunsdorf are still heavily influenced by archaic superstition and explain unusual events with preternatural powers. The same happens when pigs again and again disappear from different farmyards. The village residents firmly believe that witches are the reason for this mystery. Not even police detective Kühlemann who is sent to Hunsdorf is able to dissuade them from their superstition. Thus, the farmers think his investigation is aimless and they do not support him at all. With a lot of patience and well-made arguments he finally convinces little Peter that there are no witches. Next, Peter’s grandfather and teacher Marianne take Kühlemann’s side. With their support, the police detective eventually finds out the truth and is able to put a stop to the gang of crooks that had been stealing the pigs.

New teacher Heider takes up his post with great enthusiasm. His unconventional ideas meet with incomprehension and mistrust from the old head teacher Ruppert. When a boy has an accident on a school trip, the children blame Heider. The parents turn against him and he is suspended from his job. But Ruppert has come to respect the new boy. He does not believe he is to blame. Meanwhile, the children are preparing the next mischief. They want to blow up a ruin with explosives found in the forest. Heider is able to prevent this at the last minute. He is rehabilitated and everyone happily awaits his return to school.

On the Faroe Islands, people eke out a meagre existence by catching birds. Merchant Brause pays them little and does a good business. This comes under threat when Dr. Sten Horn suspects that the dangerous annual plague, which kills dozens of inhabitants, is transmitted by birds. Brause forces the people to work anyway and conceals the telegram from the Copenhagen research institute that confirms Horn's suspicions. Horn, supported by his cousin Arne, enlightens the islanders and the greedy Brause can only flee.

Berlin 1849: The democrat Adolf Glasbrenner, known as Brennglas, publishes the political satire magazine "Phosphor" on a shoestring budget. He plans to marry his lover, the actress Adele Peroni. But the plan comes to a standstill when Adele is to make a guest appearance at the reactionary Royal Prussian Playhouse. A democratic journalist marrying a court actress? Impossible! Together with his friend Pulecke, Brennglas tries to disrupt Adele's performance with a bachelor party...

Dr. Wagner is a scientist currently working on an experiment for the Asta plant in East Berlin. If the experiment is successful its a brilliant new invention. But Wagner is the target of sabotage, and all the decisive experiment fails. Wagner can not explain this setback.

Krestan Serbin, a 64-year-old Sorbian farm-worker, considers himself non-political. He owns a few acres, a few pigs and a cow, and intends to pass all this on to his daughter Lena. Lena, however, shows only little interest. Krestan’s situation becomes more difficult when he is meant to become integrated into the agricultural production cooperative. He even gets offered a position as Training Supervisor. Although Krestan does not oppose the new policy, he is unwilling to surrender his properties. When the political die-hards who intend to hinder the progressive movement try to win him over, Krestan realizes that it is time to show colours.

No synopsis available yet.

The Luisin ridge is divided not only by the river, but also by the zone boundary. The old CEO Högler still lives in the west, the eastern part has been expropriated and is managed by the chief engineer Dr. Tellen. He is working on a new steel production process that Högler absolutely needs. Högler's means to achieve his goal are bribery, espionage and slander. Trade union member Maria Steinitz almost becomes a victim of slander. However, the intrigue is exposed and Hogler's criminal intentions are thwarted. At a large production meeting, the old people's controller Hufland exposes the true culprits. Maria and Fritz Rottmann, a trade unionist from Munich, who have known each other since the days of the anti-fascist resistance, embrace each other.

The story of a resistance fighter in the Nazi era: Communist Hans Löning was arrested in 1933, imprisoned in a concentration camp and tortured. The Gestapo plans to smash the resistance group around Löning. Despite the imminent threat to his life, Löning, together with his wife, organized the passive resistance of the Hamburg workers against the Hitler regime. In 1944, Löning was again taken and killed.

No synopsis available yet.

Berlin in 1878: Corinna Schmidt, who was brought up in a petit-bourgeois, academic family, is romantically interested in Leopold Treibel, the son of the lordly councillor of commerce Jenny Treibel – although Corinna is also deeply in love with her cousin Marcel. Leopold is also falling for cute Corinna, and Jenny Treibel tries to prevent their friendship by all means, but changes her opinion when their secret engagement becomes public. To avoid a scandal, she urges them to marry quickly. But Corinna soon withdraws from this complicated situation and again turns to her cousin, who is banished from the country for his social democratic beliefs.

Schorsch and Franz are two rascals who are full of mischief and constantly tease both their teachers and their fellow pupils. Vera, the new classmate, decides to put her foot down and bring an end to the poor situation. With skill, patience and the help of the other pioneers she finds out about the troublemaker’s love for miniature trains and tries to direct their redundant energy onto the right track. However, Vera and her pioneers have to overcome some resistance before Schorsch and Franz finally change their behavior and become better classmates.

A theater competition breaks out on the occasion of the four-year anniversary celebrations at the Hennigsberg power plant. The old hands want to perform the kitschy musical comedy "Gärtnerliesl". The youngsters are against it and are planning their own program with which they want to skewer events from the plant in a cabaret style. But first, everyone has to work together on a turbine breakdown. On the day of the festival, the "Gärtnerliesl" fails with timpani and trumpets, while the youth's program is met with great applause, which the rivals join in with.

Several children find out what's the matter with a wreck offshore, which puts them into jeopardy.

This is the directorial debut of Artur Pohl and tells the story of war refugees as they try to settle in a small town in Germany.

During the global economic crisis, "Morgenrot" mine is due to be closed due to unprofitable results. With the use of a machine forbidden for security reasons, the mates try to work more effectively and thus save their jobs. A serious accident happens.

Paul Schleemueller is the town clerk of Schonbach, but secretly, he is counting on becoming the municipality's mayor one day. However, Paul's real passion is poetry, which he has never admitted to anyone, because he thinks it is unworthy of a municipal dignitary to write poems.

After World War II, scores of refugees leave in search of a new home. They now stand in the hall of a large mansion, waiting to receive their deeds of ownership for sections of land that the lord of the manor had left behind after he fled. Among them is young Jeruscheit who, during her travels, had to bury one of her own children. Her husband has been declared missing, and up until now she has had little purpose in life. But then she discovers it: to work, to build, and to help others. And maybe someday Jeruscheit will find her family.

Two dubious characters disguise themselves as Holmes and Watson to gain attention and end up chasing counterfeiters and stolen stamps.

When the famous singer Grace Collins got off the plane that had flown her a remote place in Northen Africa little did she know she would meet love and adventure there. If she came there, it was to visit Sir Collins, her stepfather. Falling in love was not on the agenda but how could she resist the charm of Nic Brenten, an alluring and idealistic Dutch engineer? Butcan devotion and generosity really compete with the greed of someone like Sir Collins, a cynical financier who wants to dispossess the locals of the copper mine Brenten helps them to develop ?...

The Minerva Mines Company is interested in transporting two particularly valuable diamonds from Cape Town to Amsterdam. To confuse potential thieves, two detectives are sent on two different ships with steel suitcases and they have no clue whether they’re carrying pebbles or diamonds. Nevertheless, a collection of questionable characters come on board both ships. The hunt for the diamonds begins; the suitcases are stolen; everyone is suspect.

The sawmill owner Ramin disappears from one day to the next. Concerned, his family learns from the bank that he wrote a check to an agent named Frisch. He supposedly wanted to use it to buy a good. However, that did not happen. When Ramin's body is found, the police stumble upon Ursula von Tweel, who knew the dead man.

The cashier, Jürgen Borb, has already worked for 10 years at Dadag in Hamburg and is an example for customer service and company loyalty. His professionalism are matched by the trust of his employers, who, while relating to him in an acceptable manner professionally, desire no closer contact with him outside of the workplace. When Borb suddenly disappears one day, Dadag's directors and Borb's colleagues are surprised. They become even more surprised when they soon discover that Borb has embezzled well over a million marks from the firm. His stepsister, Mette, doesn't believe that her stepbrother is an embezzler. In the meantime, she has fallen in love with a criminal investigator, who, she believes, is simply exploiting her affections to get to Borb. Then one day, the criminal investigator finds a body in the cellar of a house Borb rented under a false name and this man created a phony ID card for Borb, identifying him as a resident of a South American country.

About how the British broke the Brazilian monopoly on natural rubber. The storyline suggests a complex relation between adventure, military conquest and imperialism.

Spanning the years between the Bolshevik Revolution and 1930, this Negri vehicle focuses on an exiled Russian noblewoman who has lost track of her daughter and of a young officer she pined for.Until she finds them both again and together.

Henriette Lange lives only for the theater in Berlin around 1900. Her grandfather, however, has no understanding for this. He is a prompter and knows all about the hustle and bustle of the theater. Her friend, the chorus girl Liesbeth, is heartbroken because the revue star Vera Schreyvogel has his eye on her boyfriend Hans Reuter. But Liesbeth soon consoles herself with someone else, and Mrs. Schreyvogel is quickly forgotten. For Hans Reuter too, because he now loves Henriette. Liesbeth is dismissed without notice because she has fallen out with Mrs. Schreyvogel, and Henriette now has to sing her part. Her dream finally comes true. As she sings blissfully, she sees the Schreyvogel hugging her Hans in the background. She gets stuck in the middle of the song - her career is over! But not with love: she has conquered her Hans forever.

The jealous star conductor Montemayor knows that his beautiful younger wife, Winifred, is cheating on him with an American named Jack Mortimer. After the concert rehearsal, he takes a taxi to the train station, sees Mortimer and shoots him at an intersection from the backseat of his taxi. The shot is not heard during the traffic noise. The taxi driver, Sponer, sitting in his car with the now-dead Mortimer, goes into a panic.

In the depression era unemployed Susanne tries to break into movies by working as an extra. She is ‚hired' to be kidnapped in a PR stunt that is supposed to hush over a suicide scandal. This soon gets her a real role in an artistic film.

No synopsis available yet.

When Sir John Falstaff decides that he wants to have a little fun he writes two letters to a pair of Window wives: Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. When they put their heads together and compare missives, they plan a practical joke or two to teach the knight a lesson. But Mistress Ford's husband is a very jealous man and is pumping Falstaff for information of the affair. Meanwhile the Pages' daughter Anne is besieged by suitors.

Lieutentant Thomas Glahn lives with his dog Aesop in a small cabin, withdrawn from the rest of the world. In the store of the merchant Mack, he gets to know Edwarda, Mack’s daughter. Edwarda takes the initiative to try and see Glahn again. A tender love develops between the two of them. Even Eva, the smithy’s wife, feels drawn to Thomas. She visits him and confides in him. An affair develops between Eva and Thomas, which Edwarda knows nothing about. Thomas is caught between the two women, in that he loves Edwarda, but can’t resist Eva’s attraction. Mack has a different opinion about her daughter’s new husband.

A dancing girl succeeds in getting Napoleon, in 1808, to pardon her lover, a German artist who has drawn an unflattering caricature of the French emperor during his Erfurt conference with the Czar and several local princes.

Sabine Heitmann, the young boss for the shipping company Heitmann, has become friends with Michael, the First Officer and Helmsman of the ship, the "Sabine Heitmann". He only knows Sabine by her first name and doesn't know that she's the boss. When he discovers the fact, however, he gets pissed and refuses to accept his promotion to Captain. Then the shipping company gets a lucrative offer: In a competition with another shipping company, they need to reach Baltimore in 18 days and pick up some freight. Whoever can move their rear ends faster, gets the very profitable contract from an American firm (correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't this sort of thing sink the Titanic?). Together with Michael, Sabine comes up with a plan, which should have them win the contest. The upshot? She wins back his heart and he becomes Captain.

Before the First World War, Dr. Hans Stockmann had a practice in a small town. His powerhungry brother is the mayor of Bad Trimburg, which has developed into a respectable resort. Dr. Stockmann is called in to become the town’s chief physician. He considers the sanitary conditions to be intolerable and insists on a clean-up. His ambitious brother and all those who, till now, have profited well from the corner cutting, are, of course, against that for financial reasons. The doctor is condemned from all sides and the conflict escalates.

The double standards of a social class, which pontificates with big words what is proper and improper in the world of morality, while in its heart thinks very differently and acts accordingly.

Despite the way her businessman husband treats her like a slave, a woman abandons a brief flirtation with a young Austrian aristocrat, to show the German traits of duty and obedience.

Hoping to restore his family name to the ranks of the great circus dynasties, Karl Urmann works with his children to develop a horse act. Having previously been injured in a trapeze accident that claimed his brother's life, Karl is trampled to death by a horse; with his dying breath, he begs his daughter Claudia to leave the circus and go live with her Aunt Paula. There, she works as a maid and secretary while continuing her training. After a few years, she is ready to stage her own act. She hopes to reunite with her brother, Freddy, who is currently in the US performing alongside the treacherous Matsu. With Patsy’s help, Matsu tries to persuade Freddy to sign a contract, but the young man returns to his sister instead. [Filming was halted in 1946 after DEFA management identified significant technical flaws. The footage is considered destroyed.]