Notes of Berlin

Off Course(es)

Two young Spanish men, with a university education, are tired of unemployment and decide to move to Germany. But soon they will find out that finding a better living is not as easy as they expected.

Walk on Water(he)

Eyal, an Israeli Mossad agent, is given the mission to track down and kill the very old Alfred Himmelman, an ex-Nazi officer, who might still be alive. Pretending to be a tourist guide, he befriends his grandson Axel, in Israel to visit his sister Pia. The two men set out on a tour of the country, during which Axel challenges Eyal's values.

The Elementary Particles(de)

Based on Michel Houellebecq's controversial novel, Atomised (aka The Elementary Particles) focuses on Michael and Bruno, two very different half-brothers and their disturbed sexuality. After a chaotic childhood with a hippie mother only caring for her affairs, Michael, a molecular biologist, is more interested in genes than women, while Bruno is obsessed with his sexual desires, but mostly finds his satisfaction with prostitutes. But Bruno's life changes when he gets to know the experienced Christiane. In the meantime, Michael meets Annabelle, the love of his youth, again.

Run Lola Run(de)

Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.

Wings of Desire(de)

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds -- with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk -- that it might be possible for him to take human form.

Emil and the Detectives(de)

When a suspicious man bribes Emil with chocolate in return for a bundle of cash, the young lad thinks of a plan to catch him.

Emil and the Detectives(en)

Erich Kästner’s beloved novel has been adapted for film or television six times since its publication in 1929; this 1935 British version was the first in English. Believed lost for decades, it was recently rediscovered by the BFI and has now been restored. The film moves the action from Berlin to London, where Emil goes to stay with his grandmother and cousin. Thereafter, the tale of Emil’s adventures with a gang of streetwise London children faithfully follows the original plot.

Emil and the Detectives(en)

When Emil travels by bus to Berlin to visit his family, his money is stolen by a crook who specializes in digging tunnels. While following the thief, Emil runs into Gustav, a young boy who gathers up all his friends to help Emil find the money. However, they get into more trouble than they bargained for when Emil's pickpocket turns out to be mixed up with a couple of notorious bank robbers.

Mama Mia - Nur keine Panik(de)

Because her husband, crime novel author Bert, prefers to spend the evenings with milieu and girl studies in the pubs, Conny files for divorce and moves with the two children from Berlin to Munich. There, she mistakes the new teacher of her daughter with the renovating carpenter, which is quite alright with the teacher as this gives him plenty of opportunity to enjoy Conny’s company. Meanwhile, however, Bert as well has started to understand how good it is to have a cosy home. He comes to Munich in order to win Conny back.

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.”

Annaluise & Anton(de)

Despite their social differences Luise, called Pünktchen, a girl from rich parentage befriends Anton, a boy who has to earn his own money in order to afford life for his sick mother and himself. Together they undergo different adventures, even preventing a theft in Pünktchens home

Ghosts(de)

Nina, an end-of-teenage orphan with mental problems, starts a new job as a garden cleaner when she meets Toni. They fell in love with each other, but soon Toni starts betraying Nina. In the meantime, Francoise is picked up at a psychic department of a Berlin hospital by her husband, Pierre. After seeing Nina, Francoise believes that she has found her kidnapped daughter Marie, but neither Toni nor Pierre believe her. Nina is unsure about what to think...

The Good Shepherd(en)

Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded OSS. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.

The Art of Authenticity(de)

Berlin is quite often pretty dirty. But what if there is one person who takes care of that every day? We tell the story of a one-man underground department that (by its own claim) makes Berlin the coolest big city in Germany. The Authority for Urban Authenticity.

The Good German(en)

An American journalist arrives in Berlin just after the end of World War Two. He becomes involved in a murder mystery surrounding a dead GI who washes up at a lakeside mansion during the Potsdam negotiations between the Allied powers. Soon his investigation connects with his search for his married pre-war German lover.

Lili Marleen(de)

The story of a German singer named Willie, who while working in Switzerland, falls in love with a Jewish composer named Robert, whose family is helping people to flee from the Nazis. Robert’s family is skeptical of Willie, thinking she could be a Nazi as she becomes famous for singing the song “Lili Marleen”.

Beyond Silence(de)

Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.

Night on Earth(en)

A quintet of cabbies in five cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.

People on Sunday(de)

A semi-documentary experimental 1930 German silent film created by amateurs with a small budget. With authentic scenes of the metropolis city of Berlin, it's the first film from the later famous screenwriters/directors Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann.

Angels of Iron(de)

The subject of this historical drama is a splintering Berlin in the years of 1948 and 1949. Played against the backdrop of social upheaval, the characters in the drama come to epitomize the best and worst of each pole of the political sphere. A 17-year-old hoodlum by the name of Gladow works hand-in-glove with a local white-collar criminal to rob and pillage every day and night, defying capture. While he and his gang of thugs are terrorizing the people of Berlin, the Soviets are trying to make the blockade of their region of control impermeable. The future casts long shadows over the drama, as Berlin's problems take the shape of times to come.

Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine"(fr)

Divers go to work on a wrecked ship (the battleship Maine that was blown up in Havana harbour during the Spanish-American War), surrounded by curiously disproportionate fish.

The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery(en)

Aurora Teagarden is a beautiful young librarian with a passion for solving murders. After an exhaustive search for the perfect home, Aurora finally purchases her dream house, unaware of its murky history. As she prepares to move in, Aurora discovers that the family who once lived there mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

Main Krishna Hoon(hi)

In answer to an orphan boy's prayers, the divine Lord Krishna comes to Earth, befriends the boy, and helps him find a loving family.

Crows Zero II(ja)

Genji and his victorious G.P.S. alliance find themselves facing down a new challenge by the students of Hosen Academy, feared by everyone as 'The Army of Killers.' The two schools, in fact, have a history of bad blood between them. And the simmering embers of hatred are about to flare up again, burning away any last remnants of the truce they had so rigorously observed until now.

The Garden of Sinners: Paradox Spiral(ja)

Tomoe Enjou is attacked by bullies from his old school and saved by Shiki Ryougi. He asks her to hide him at her place and admits that he killed someone. Several days later, there are still no broadcasts about the murder as if it didn't happen... and when the victims are found, they're alive and unharmed.

Red(en)

Based on the true story of Louis "Red" Deutsch. A New Jersey bar-owner is plagued with prank phone calls that prompt him to flip into psychotic, profanity-laden rages.

Kiss Kis Ko(hi)

In the background of a lot interest being shown in music groups, a group of young Indian men, calling themselves "Band of Boys", decide to perform publicly, to share their talents India-wide, as well as to make a career for themselves. They run into problems - it seems the public is only interested seeing a group of sexy young girls perform. This group must now compromise to include a young, sexy girl to be included in their band.

Red(pt)

The Accidental Getaway Driver(en)

During a routine pickup, an elderly Vietnamese cab driver is taken hostage by three recently escaped Orange County convicts. Based on a true story.

People(fr)

People is a film shot behind closed doors in a workshop/house on the outskirts of Paris and features a dozen characters. It is based on an interweaving of scenes of moaning and sex. The house is the characters' common space, but the question of ownership is distended, they don't all inhabit it in the same way. As the sequences progress, we don't find the same characters but the same interdependent relationships. Through the alternation between lament and sexuality, physical and verbal communication are put on the same level. The film then deconstructs, through its repetitive structure, our relational myths.

Return(fr)

Death Al Dente: A Gourmet Detective Mystery(en)

San Francisco homicide detective Maggie Price and former, world-class chef Henry Ross are on the case once again. The crime-solving odd couple investigates the murder of Henry’s friend, a well-known local chef found dead in his kitchen. As they begin to unravel an old family secret, Maggie has to stay one step ahead of a mysterious man in the shadows who appears to be stalking her, while her blossoming relationship with Henry is threatened by the arrival of an ex-love from Maggie’s past.

Tomie: Rebirth(ja)

Young art student Hideo paints an unnerving portrait of Tomie, who whispers that she loves him. Inexplicably, he reacts by stabbing her to death with a painting trowel. Two friends, Takumi and Shunichi, arrive on the scene and help him dispose of the body. To cheer him up, the boys take the unwitting murderer to the nearest bar for a party... but a mysterious girl named Tomie shows up, bearing a few odd physical resemblances to the dead girl in the ground.

Forky Asks a Question: What Is Time?(en)

Rex uses the age of dinosaurs as an example to give Forky an understanding of the concept of time.

Young and Dangerous 4(cn)

The boss of the Hung Hing gang, Tian Sang, has died. Ho Nam and Hon Bun find Sangs younger brother, Yang to lead the gang. Meanwhile, Hon Bun receives news that his younger brother, a leader of the Tuen Mun gang has been assasinated. They travel to Hong Kong to settle the matter.

The Shop on Main Street(sk)

In a small town in Nazi-occupied Slovakia during World War II, decent but timid carpenter Tono is named "Aryan comptroller" of a button store owned by an old Jewish widow, Rozalie. Since the post comes with a salary and standing in the town's corrupt hierarchy, Tono wrestles with greed and guilt as he and Rozalie gradually befriend each other. When the authorities order all Jews in town to be rounded up, Tono faces a moral dilemma unlike any he's known before.

Showbiz: or how to become a celebrity in 1-2-3!(no)

A young boy named Espen Søplekladden is leaving home. He starts to work at a jazz café named "Balla Jazzhus". But his evil brother is trying to make everything bad for him.