Adolf Peter Hoffmann

This film is the first of a two-part historical and biographical portrait of the communist politician and anti-fascist Ernst Thälmann. In early November 1918, Ernst Thälmann is an unwilling soldier serving on the western front. As the revolutionary movement at home is threatened by the betrayal of the Social Democrats and fissures in the working class, Thälmann calls on his fellow soldiers to put down their weapons and unite with the workers in the communist struggle at home. Thälmann’s qualms about which side he is fighting on continue, but when the local police attempt to prevent a shipment of provisions and supplies from reaching the people in Petrograd, he intervenes and the ship is unloaded. With this moment of clarity, Thälmann continues to follow his political convictions and joins the workers at the Hamburg uprising in October 1923.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), five International Brigade soldiers of different nationalities are given a crucial assignment as their commander lies dying: they are to smuggle top-secret information across enemy lines.

The plot is based on the dramatic fate of the Red Army commander Aleksei Ivanovich Pavlov. Having been captured in January 1942 and being among the displaced persons, he didn't immediately decide to return to the USSR. Having rolled around the foreign country for 17 years, Aleksei nevertheless returned to his homeland. He goes to his brother in the south of the country to Sevastopol. Aleksei accidentally meets the doctor Anna Andreyevna, who was saved from death in besieged Leningrad. She travels by car from Moscow and also to the south, with her daughter Tanya; she suggests he join them. Aleksei tells about his life on the road.

During a pogrom in Poland on the eve of World War I, a group of Jews seek refuge from the Cossacks. The fugitives hide out in a rural inn, terrified that they may be given away at any moment.

Chingachgook, a Mohawk-born Delaware warrior, strives to rescue his wife Wahtawah from the clutches of an enemy camp of Huron. Joined by his trusted huntsman Deerslayer, the two confront racist pioneers and brutal British soldiers in their quest. Deerslayer catches the desire of Judith and thus the jealousy of her suitor, Harry. The action of the story functions like a seesaw, characters continuously traveling back and forth between a house on the lake and the Huron camp until the violent climax.

The scissors cut out a little man with huge boxing gloves from black paper. The boy comes to life and is immediately convinced of his punching power. So he grabs the scissors himself and cuts out a huge opponent to demonstrate his strength. He makes a complete fool of himself in the process. It doesn't help that he cuts his opponent smaller and smaller and finally even sticks him down with glue. Although he adorns himself with the laurels of victory at the end, it is clear that he is just a ridiculous paper hero.

October 1918: Karl Liebknecht is released from prison and Berlin workers celebrate his release. Although WWI is almost over, the German Kaiserreich in vain sends its last reserves to the slaughter. The working class is in a rebellious mood; the uprising of Kiel’s sailors against war and militarism sets off a call for revolution led by Liebknecht. On November 9, Liebknecht declares the Free Socialist Republic of Germany. But pro-Kaiser military and right wing Social Democrats oppose him.

A film about the historical uprising of the seamen in Kiel: During the Russian October Revolution of 1917, German and Russian soldiers start to solidarize with each other. By disarming the officers, machinist Henne Lonke and stoker Jens Kasten prevent the attack on a Russian freighter. When German admiralty gives out orders for operation "Nibelungen", which would lead the German fleet into a suicidal attack against England and quell the revolutionary spirit, seamen and soldiers from different political backgrounds unite in protest.

Once upon a time, there was a poor farmer who had thirteen children. Since the farmer was so poor, there was never anything left for the youngest of the family. Therefore, the farmer chose Death as the godfather of his son, Jörg, because all people are equal in the eyes of Death. The Grim Reaper is happy to look after the boy and turns Jörg into a skilled doctor who earns wealth and fame.

As American settlers encroach on the lands of the Lakota people, Tokei-ihto witnesses the murder of his father at the hands of Red Fox, who wanted information on where the tribe finds its gold. Two years later, at the height of the Great Sioux War, Tokei-ihto and Red Fox meet again.

This is part one of a two-part biopic about Karl Liebknecht. In 1914, Germany is arming itself for war. Karl Liebknecht, left-wing revolutionary Social Democrat, workers’ leader and a virulent antimilitarist, is one among 110 SPD members of Parliament who vote against approving war loans. From then on, he is considered un-German and a traitor to the fatherland, and his own party’s leadership turns against him. Despite threats, Liebknecht speaks up against the war and writes the manifesto “The Main Enemy Is at Home.” Even when he is arrested and charged with treason, he does not surrender.

Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and Gilbert Wolzow, are pulled out of school and into Hitler's army. Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier; but at the front, Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war.

For Balduin, going out to beer parties with his fellow students and fighting out disputes at the tip of the sword have lost their charms. He wants to find love; but how would he, a penniless student, ever dare looking up to any woman worth of loving? Absorbed in his dreary thoughts and indifferent to the advances of Lyduschka, Balduin is unexpectedly offered a fortune by the mysterious money-lender Scapinelli - but on a strange condition...

A detailed reconstruction of the censorship case against the landmark Weimar-era communist film, Kuhle Wampe, or Who Owns the World? (1932). Directed by Slatan Dudow, the crew and cast included left-wing luminaries, such as playwright Bertolt Brecht, composer Hanns Eisler and balladeer Ernst Busch. The film was the subject of vehement disputes and was banned twice for revolutionary and communist tendencies that were perceived to threaten the state. About 230 meters of the original film fell victim to the censor’s shears. This historic censorship case was argued over the course of three sessions. Censored: Kuhle Wampe re-enacts the censorship hearings, based on original minutes and documents, as well as personal records of the case. In addition to footage from the original film, this docudrama includes original clips of Berlin in the 1920s and '30s and short testimonies, filmed in the 1970s, with some of the actors involved in the original Kuhle Wampe film production.

An adaptation of Theodor Storm's novella "Hans and Heinz Kirch".

In a small town, a brigade is working on the construction of a new cultural center. Gerhard loves Karin, the daughter of brigadier Franz, who is not thrilled with the prospective son-in-law. Under the influence of his colleague "Boxer", who wants to go to a big city with him, Gerhard neglects his crane operator course, his work and ultimately Karin too. The failed crane test infuriates him and turns him into a rioter. After quarrels on the construction site, Franz is found unconscious on the crane at night. Gerhard comes under suspicion, but the accident was the fault of "Boxer". When he tries to escape, Gerhard, who has come to his senses, is able to hold him back. Remorseful, they go to the police together. Karin is also reconciled and the wedding is to take place in the finished Kulturhaus.

Kurt, an apprentice in a fish combine, is an ambitious loner. He wants to show what a good sailor he is at a regatta, but fails because of his recklessness and the storm. Disappointed, he seeks affection from the girl Anke, but she loves the apprentice Hannes. During a trip together with Captain Laue, who presents himself as a fatherly friend to Kurt, the boys get into an argument. However, when Laue makes an unscheduled call at Bornholm and Kurt discovers that Laue wants to sell the cutter's catch and equipment and flee, he buries his differences with Hannes. Together and with the help of the old fisherman Jens, the boys rescue the cutter.

The story of two women, one French and the other German, who fight for a child who has been mistakenly taken by the Germans after a bomb raid.

A film about the experiences of a cab driver who drives a young, heavily pregnant woman who has collapsed in a store to hospital. The encounters during the subsequent search for the future father so that he can take the expectant mother's things to the hospital are shown. The GDR leadership argued that the film should be banned.

Soldier Ignaz Wolz returns from WWI with an immeasurable hatred of capitalist war profiteers. He decides to start his own revolution, but tries to stay away from the organized class struggle. He steals from the rich men and divides the wealth among the poor. One day, Wolz is arrested and sentenced to life in prison; seven years later he is released due to mass protests. More than ever, it is hard for him to fit in. He severs ties with his former companions, who reject his ideas, and leaves Germany.

Albert Hauptmann is an out of work waiter in Cologne who is often confused with a former Captain of the Nazi Army. Albert uses this to his advantage and becomes the Director of the Montan Corporation, and a member of the West German Parliament. Herr Karjanke, the real Captain, learns of Albert’s ruse, and wants to claim his "rightful" position in Parliament. But Karjanke cannot come forward until his politicking "Doppelganger" succeeds in passing an amnesty law for war criminals. When Albert is finally brought before a judge on charges of fraud, he learns that this own amnesty law does not apply to him.

The machinations of an ex-officer and a servant who want to get their hands on a fortune.

The Prince of Guastalla falls in love with the young citizen Emilia Galotti, who is soon to marry Count Appiani. In order to win Emilia, the prince tries to send the count on an "honorable" journey on his behalf with the help of his chamberlain Marinelli. However, after the Count refuses this offer, Marinelli decides to have the wedding carriage robbed on his own initiative in order to have Emilia abducted to the Prince's nearby pleasure palace. But he has not thought of the prince's mistress, Countess Orsina, and Emilia's shaken father Odoardo, both of whom soon arrive at the castle, one to meet the prince, the other to look after his daughter...

In the late 1950s, the collectivization of agriculture is in full swing in the East German village of Willshagen on the German-German border. Those in charge have to face many obstacles, especially from a large-scale farmer who is unwilling to join the co-op. All of a sudden, mysterious men in a fancy car appear in the village and show an interest in the rundown manor house. Gossip spreads quickly, and some villagers think there will be a re-parceling of properties and a land swap with West Germany. They assume everything will go back to how it used to be and even expect the count to return to his manor. In preparation, the situation in the village escalates at a fevered pitch.