Grüße aus Sarmatien für den Dichter Johannes Bobrowski(1973)

Friendship of Men(de)

In this docudrama Rosa von Praunheim looks into Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s sexual orientation, especially into his erotic experiences during his travels in Italy. Contrary to the common belief, von Praunheim argues that Goethe was not a heartbreaker and conqueror after all. It was only in Italy, that he had diverse sexual experiences, not least with men. Von Praunheim bases his assumption on letters written by Goethe to his friend Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi about these sexual encounters. Some of the content of these letters is re-encated in the film. At the same time, historians and linguists analyse and classify the letters into their historical context.

Ich will dich – Begegnungen mit Hilde Domin(de)

Die Schleuse(de)

Another Woman(en)

Marion is a woman who has learned to shield herself from her emotions. She rents an apartment to work undisturbed on her new book, but by some acoustic anomaly she can hear all that is said in the next apartment in which a psychiatrist holds his office. When she hears a young woman tell that she finds it harder and harder to bear her life, Marion starts to reflect on her own life. After a series of events she comes to understand how her unemotional attitude towards the people around her affected them and herself.

Engel und Puppe(it)

Engel und Puppe is the first film by Italian filmmaker and writer Ellis Donda. Screened at Oberhausen in 1975, Engel und Puppe is a political adaptation of some lines from Rilke's Duino Elegies, featuring the French poet Jacqueline Risset and a young Rossella Or (soon to become an avant-garde theatre actress).

Leier und Schwert(de)

Atmospheric image from the Wars of Liberation. The poet Theodor Körner, who was later killed in battle, is shown reciting a poem while the soldiers listen with emotion.

An Accidental Life(en)

An Accidental Life is a deeply personal and vulnerable portrait of Quinn Brett, an ambitious, record-setting climber who strives to make meaning out of tragedy in the years following a near-fatal rock climbing accident on El Capitan that left her paralyzed.

Love, Tom(en)

Over the course of a single night in Nashville, Oscar, Golden Globe and GRAMMY nominated songwriter Tom Douglas narrates a letter of hope to a desperate world.

The Forest Maker(ha)

Together with African small farmholders Tony Rinaudo, an Australian agronomist, has been fighting against the spread of the desert for 30 years and challenges ideas of conventional reforestation with his simple yet effective method.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat(fr)

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Des mots qui restent(fr)

Six people recall the languages that cradled their childhoods: Judeo-Spanish or Judeo Arabic, or Judeo-Persian. Today, the languages themselves are dying but they left traces that still work on those who heard them as children.

Life in Loops (A Megacities RMX)(en)

Timo Novotny labels his new project an experimental music documentary film, in a remix of the celebrated film Megacities (1997), a visually refined essay on the hidden faces of several world "megacities" by leading Austrian documentarist Michael Glawogger. Novotny complements 30 % of material taken straight from the film (and re-edited) with 70 % as yet unseen footage in which he blends original shots unused by Glawogger with his own sequences (shot by Megacities cameraman Wolfgang Thaler) from Tokyo. Alongside the Japanese metropolis, Life in Loops takes us right into the atmosphere of Mexico City, New York, Moscow and Bombay. This electrifying combination of fascinating film images and an equally compelling soundtrack from Sofa Surfers sets us off on a stunning audiovisual adventure across the continents. The film also makes an original contribution to the discussion on new trends in documentary filmmaking. Written by KARLOVY VARY IFF 2006

Thailand's Wild Cats(en)

The mysterious jungles of Thailand are home to some of the rarest wild cats on earth - the Clouded Leopard, The Asian Leopard, The Indian Fishing Cat and the Indo Chinese Tiger. In one of the last truly wild corners of the world this extraordinary collection of secretive predators defend their last remaining stronghold. As their territories intertwine and continuously shift, these cats must cheat death on a daily basis if they are to survive and thrive out in these tangled lands

Children of God(en)

A former member examines the lingering effects of being raised in the Family, a cult whose disturbing practices include the sexual abuse of children.

Sébastien Tellier: Many Lives(en)

Since his first album, French musician Sébastien Tellier never ceased to surprise, amuse, and even bother; all without getting lost along the way. The constantly renewed authenticity of his musical universe is still one of the strongest in contemporary pop scene.

The Kumshagal Story(ru)

The repairmen of the railways and their families, living at Road Machine Number 57, without electricity in the railway carriages.

Central Asia: The Call of ISIS(fr)

In the footsteps of a top Tajik officer who rallied to the Islamic State, an investigation into the jihadist temptation in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.

Joaquín Sabina: Contra todo pronóstico(es)

Inside The Mind of Google(en)

CNBC takes an inside look at Google one of the most powerful and successful technology companies in the world. It looks at the history of the company, discusses some of the privacy issues raised by its search engine, and examines the company's foray into the mobile phone market. It also looks at how Google uses ad-words to create enormous profits.

The Secret Life of Chaos(en)

Chaos theory has a bad name, conjuring up images of unpredictable weather, economic crashes and science gone wrong. But there is a fascinating and hidden side to Chaos, one that scientists are only now beginning to understand. It turns out that chaos theory answers a question that mankind has asked for millennia - how did we get here?