Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

Nanook of the North(en)

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Olympia: Part One – Festival of the Nations(de)

Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. This first half of her two-part film opens with a renowned introduction that compares modern Olympians to classical Greek heroes, then goes on to provide thrilling in-the-moment coverage of some of the games' most celebrated moments, including African-American athlete Jesse Owens winning a then-unprecedented four gold medals.

Olympia: Part Two – Festival of Beauty(de)

Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. Where the two-part epic's first half, Festival of the Nations, focused on the international aspects of the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, part two, The Festival of Beauty, concentrates on individual athletes such as equestrians, gymnasts, and swimmers, climaxing with American Glenn Morris' performance in the decathalon and the games' majestic closing ceremonies.

The Other Line(sr)

Druga linija aka The Other Line is a product of many years of research of neo-avant-garde cultural and art scene in Novi Sad, Serbia (late 60s and 70s), which has been marginalized until today. This artistic movement was directly connected not only with important art centers of the former Yugoslavia, but also with existing flows of world art during its brief and productive activities (7e Biennale de Paris, 19th Berlinale). The cultural and artistic emancipation of that time had implied individual freedom of expression and strong reaction to established boundaries. This avant-garde movement had become threat to communist establishment, the authors' work were sabotaged, the films were sealed off, five artists were taken to trial, two were sent in prison. How is it that the retrograde mechanism of shutting down and removing the most creative and representative progressive impulses of our surrounding is still so current to this day?

Crabs and Shrimp(fr)

Jean Painlevé is interested here, with the help of Eli Lotar, in crabs and shrimps. He is particularly interested in detailing their anatomy and observing their mating and fighting behavior.

A&C to S(en)

As the modernisation of London Underground continues, long serving A-Stock and C-Stock trains have been withdrawn from service, and their differing characters will slowly become a memory. London Transport Museum commissioned Geoff Marshall to record the transition between old and new trains.

The Battle for Donner Pass(en)

This is the incredible story of the men and equipment that battle the long cold winter months against the impossible odds to keep this historic mountain pass open! You'll see the Legendary Snowfighters of Donner Pass in action as they struggle against the winter fury of the High Sierras. This amazing story shot with the full cooperation of the Southern Pacific, bringing you the spectacular footage that takes you directly to the front lines of The Battle for Donner Pass!

After James Benning's YouTube(en)

Divided into 26 parts, an attempt to remake James Benning's film, YouTube (2011) with similar internet footage after 13 years.

Weaving Women(mk)

A group of Macedonian women are shown hard at work.

Leftist Extremism: Activism or Terror?(de)

Leftist extremist groups operating in Europe have chosen violence as a political tactic: they attack the right-wing parties offices, attack the police, provoke riots in demonstrations. Although leftist violence is increasing, it receives almost no public attention. An investigation into the alleged good violence exercised in the name of a supposedly just cause.

Hilversum in Black and White(nl)

Hilversum in Black and White portrays Hilversum in the period 1924-1974. Using amateur footage and excerpts from Polygoon newsreels from that period, the film shows how the town grew from its five hundredth anniversary in 1924 to a city of one hundred thousand inhabitants. 'Hilversum in Black and White' is a production of the Hilversum Historical Circle Albertus Perk for the occasion of Hilversum's six-hundredth anniversary. They previously produced "Hilversum Occupied and Liberated, 1940-1945."

Without Kerosene to Berlin(de)

Climate justice! OHNE KEROSIN NACH BERLIN is a campaign by the Students for Future, which is part of the Fridays for Future movement. In 2020, 60 people loudly carried the climate protest by bicycle from Cologne to Berlin. This film emerged from the movement and shows the activists' experiences up close.

Klassenleben(de)

Trains: Two Centuries of Innovation(fr)

Nearly 200 years ago, the train revolutionized our lives. It redrew the maps of states and nations, and changed concepts of distance and time like no other invention before. What visionaries imagined the development of the railroad? How did we get from the first chugging locomotives to the smooth giants of speed we see today? How does France's extensive rail network keep running smoothly, 24/7?

Gare du Nord : La Plus Grande Gare d'Europe(fr)

From Dust to Light(en)

Filmed In the heart of the mountainous villages of Greece and North Macedonia, the documentary follows a group of conservators of antiquities and works of art on their journey, with the goal of preserving Byzantine iconography. The dialogue between them and the hagiographers of the past comes to life.

breathe exhale inhale(xx)

Time lapse of clouds and a mimosa tree to the silhouette at dusk.

Opa sein Berlin(de)

Rare documentary footage from around 1900 depicts the mood of life in Berlin at the turn of the century.

Banlie.ue(fr)

Lake(en)

Lake gazes down at a still body of water from a birds-eye view, while a group of artists peacefully float in and out of the frame or work to stay at the surface. As they glide farther away and draw closer together, they reach out in collective queer and desirous exchanges — holding hands, drifting over and under their neighbors, making space, taking care of each other with a casual, gentle intimacy while they come together as individual parts of a whole. The video reflects on notions of togetherness and feminist theorist Silvia Federici’s call to “reconnect what capitalism has divided: our relation with nature, with others, and our bodies.”

Steamboat Bill, Jr.(en)

The just-out-of-college, effete son of a no-nonsense steamboat captain comes to visit his father whom he's not seen since he was a child.

Napoleon(fr)

A biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte, tracing the Corsican's career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign) to his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797.

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog(en)

London. A mysterious serial killer brutally murders young blond women by stalking them in the night fog. One foggy, sinister night, a young man who claims his name is Jonathan Drew arrives at the guest house run by the Bunting family and rents a room.

Book of Dragons(en)

So you want to be a dragon trainer do you? Prepare yourself for adventure, excitement and training as Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless and Gobber tell the legend behind the Book of Dragons and reveal insider training secrets about new, never-before-seen dragons.

Speedy(en)

Speedy loses his job as a soda jerk, then spends the day with his girl at Coney Island. He then becomes a cab driver and delivers Babe Ruth to Yankee Stadium, where he stays to see the game. When the railroad tries to run the last horse-drawn trolley (operated by his girl's grandfather) out of business, Speedy organizes the neighborhood old-timers to thwart their scheme.

The Southerner(en)

Sam Tucker, a cotton picker, in search of a better future for his family, decides to grow his own cotton crop. In the first year, the Tuckers battle disease, a flood, and a jealous neighbor. Can they make it as farmers?

Rain(nl)

A lyrical portrait of Amsterdam and its changing appearance during a rain-shower.

Absolut(en)

Two guys against globalization want to plant a virus in the network of a finance corporation. On the day of the attack Alex has an accident and cannot remember anything. Visions and reality are thrown together in a confusing maze. Alex tries to escape from this muddle but what he discovers turns out to be rather frightening…

Nothing But Time(fr)

The life of a great city (Paris) from dawn until dusk, including the beautiful and the ragged, the rich and the poor.

Raise the Red Lantern(zh)

In 1920s China, nineteen-year-old Songlian becomes a concubine of a powerful lord and is forced to compete with his three wives for the privileges gained.

Consent(fr)

In 2013, Vanessa Springora recounts how she found herself under the influence of a famous writer. In 1986, she was 13; him, almost 50. The victim of a triple predation: sexual, literary, and psychic, there's more beyond her individual story. She questions the excesses of an era, and the complacency of an environment blinded by talent and celebrity.

The Aftermath(en)

In the aftermath of World War II, a British colonel and his wife are assigned to live in Hamburg during the post-war reconstruction, but tensions arise with the German widower who lives with them.

The Man Who Knew Too Much(en)

A couple vacationing in Morocco with their young son accidentally stumble upon an assassination plot. When the child is kidnapped to ensure their silence, they have to take matters into their own hands to save him.

The Great Beauty(it)

Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire(fr)

On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.

Big Fish(en)

Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.

Scarface(en)

After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.

Blade Runner(en)

In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(en)

A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker.

Alien(en)

During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.