Drachensaat

Caligari: When Horror Came to Cinema(de)

On February 26, 1920, Robert Wiene's world-famous film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari premiered at the Marmorhaus in Berlin. To this day, it is considered a manifesto of German expressionism; a legend of cinema and a key work to understand the nature of the Weimar Republic and the constant political turmoil in which a divided society lived after the end of the First World War.

Hitler: A Career(de)

A keen chronicle of the unlikely rise to power of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and a dissection of the Third Reich (1933-1945), but also an analysis of mass psychology and how the desperate crowd can be deceived and shepherded to the slaughterhouse.

Double Headed Eagle: Hitler's Rise to Power 1918-1933(en)

Presents a unique and disturbing look at the rise of the Nazi party. The documentary, directed by Lutz Becker, attempts to remain as objective as possible, serving as a neutral observer of the years 1918 through 1933 in Germany. Via newsreel footage and clips of features from the era, the film offers a kaleidoscopic view of the many elements that fueled the rise of the Socialist Nationalist Party, including post-WWI poverty. Hitler occupies a central place in the documentary.

Despair(en)

Berlin, 1930, during the rise of Nazism. Hermann Hermann, a Russian emigrant and chocolate manufacturer, married to the capricious Lydia, loses his temper more and more every day when dealing with his workers and other businessmen; until he meets Felix, a vagrant, who seems to be physically identical to him; a disconcerting fact that leads Hermann Hermann to plot a particular way out of a fake world he actually hates.

From Caligari to Hitler(de)

Film journalist and critic Rüdiger Suchsland examines German cinema from 1919, when the Republic of Weimar is born, to 1933, when the Nazis come into power. (Followed by Hitler's Hollywood, 2017.)

100 Years of the UFA(de)

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.

The Haunted Screen: German Film After World War I(en)

In this film essay, critic Peter Buchka explores the German cinema of the 1920s, ranging from the disquieting images of Fritz Lang's Metropolis to the castrating sexuality of Marlene Dietrich in Die Blaue Engel. The program provides an introduction to Weimar cinema, with Buchka's essay narrated over the images from film clips of 1920s era German films.

Dawn of the Nazis(en)

How Germany was when its people entered the nightmare of World War II? Despair and fear lead a hungry population to follow the chilling call of just one man to world domination. A real-life horror story, an ominous tale of violence and deception, which takes place from 1919 to 1934. (Entirely made up of restored, colorized archival footage.)

Kuhle Wampe or Who Owns the World?(de)

Kuhle Wampe takes place in early-1930s Berlin. The film begins with a montage of newspaper headlines describing steadily-rising unemployment figures. This is followed by scenes of a young man looking for work in the city and the family discussing the unpaid back rent. The young man, brother of the protagonist Anni, removes his wristwatch and throws himself from a window out of despair. Shortly thereafter his family is evicted from their apartment. Now homeless, the family moves into a garden colony of sorts with the name “Kuhle Wampe.”

The Film Narrator(de)

Germany in the Thirties. A movie teller realizes that his profession is not longer needed. Silent movies are not produced any longer. Telling stories is the only thing the man was ever good in, so he does not know what to do now. As political circumstances are changing dramatically these days in Germany, he gets new hope that things will again be going better for him...

Die Fürstin Woronzoff(de)

Nacht über Berlin(de)

Berlin, 1932. The Weimar Republic is torn apart in the struggle between right- and left-wing extremists and Berlin is a powder keg. Nightclub singer Henny Dalgow get to know the Social Democratic congressman and Jewish doctor Albert Goldman, and the two become a slightly odd couple. Albert is a sworn pacifist after his experiences in the First World War. Contrary to his beliefs he agrees to act as courier for his brother Edwin, who belongs to a radical communist cell.

Musste Weimar scheitern?(de)

Feeding Time(en)

When a young woman fills in for her friend on a babysitting job, she begins to suspect things are not as they seem. She's right.

Queen of Spades(ru)

Once upon a time, the great soprano Sofia Mayer conquered the world with her voice, her beauty and the legend she carefully built around herself. Now only the legend remains — the diva herself hasn't performed for years, nor been seen in the glittering circles of society she once dominated. But the woman who fascinated and thrilled the world for so long would like to crown her career with one more triumph. And she'll use every dirty trick she knows to achieve it.

Sugar Mountain(en)

Two brothers, down on their luck, fake a disappearance in the Alaskan wilderness so they'll have a great survival story to sell, but the hoax turns out to be more real than they planned.

El extraño caso de Rachel K(es)

Based on a real event, the action takes place in Havana in 1931, during the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado. Rachel, a young French showgirl, is murdered during an orgy involving personalities of the bourgeoisie and politics. The tabloid press echoes the story to divert public attention from the serious social problems that affect the country. The governors on their part order to silence the case to protect the characters involved.

Last Rampage(en)

The true story of the infamous prison break of Gary Tison and Randy Greenwalt from the Arizona State prison in Florence, in the summer of 1978.

To Each His Hell(fr)

After her daughter is kidnapped, a mother discovers that there can be something even worse after "the worst."