Life in Kajzar(1952)

White Grass(sl)

When Dane returns from the army, Vera awaits him at the station, ready to live together with him. Yet beneath the veil of enthusiasm lies anxiety for their future. The couple sets off for the mountain village where Vera's parents live, but find life in the harsh alpine conditions too difficult. They decide to move down into the valley, where they meet a discontented couple whose marriage has been marred by an affair. Vera and Dane also encounter difficulties in their relationship, but the tragic example of the other couple helps them realize that their home lies in the place of their birth - beneath the free skies in the mountains.

The Years of Decision(sl)

When Peter comes back from the war, he finds his father changed and alone. Their former maid, Leni, has also left and soon Peter's grandfather also dies. His father begins writing his memoirs of his Partisan years. Peter blames his father for his mother's death, but the final blow comes when he catches his father together with his (Peter's) former girlfriend. He moves in with his brother and accuses Leni of having had an affair with his father. Peter decides to kill his father but cannot carry out the plan. His father tells him in a fit of rage that he isn't his son at all. Feeling desperate and down, he goes to Leni's place for comfort, and finds her dead on the floor. The police arrest Peter for the murder of Leni. Will Peter have to serve a jail sentence on his road to maturity and will political connections have a bearing on the final verdict of the trial? Peter doesn't even know whom he can trust anymore.

Black Panther(de)

After many years apart, Emilie meets her brother Jakob again. She not only shares her sadness about the loss of their parents with him, but also a secret...

Transgression(sl)

A TV journalist making a documentary in a factory finds out that the workers have been on strike and tries to analyze the strike in his film, but is thwarted by the TV company. His failure at his job is interwoven with his failed marriage.

Late Chrysanthemums(ja)

With delicate, unobtrusive strokes, Naruse evokes both the humor and bitterness of his characters’ dilemmas, in this bleak, compelling poignant portrait of a quartet of aging geishas contemplating their troubles with men and money.

Snow Job(en)

A famous skier, his mistress and a ski instructor rob a bank in the Alps and hide the loot in a crevasse.

Heidi(en)

Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.

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.

North Face(de)

North Face tells the story of two German climbers Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser and their attempt to scale the deadly North Face of the Eiger.

The Juggler(en)

A Holocaust survivor moves to Israel and experiences difficulty adjusting to life.

Castles and Cottages(de)

Lifelong hard work for the count makes the servant Anton a cripple. Everybody calls him Crooked Anton. When, after the end of the war, the land of the count gets divided amongst the farmers, Anton receives a piece and hopes to be able to work freely. But an old debt and intrigue keep Anton and his family from finding peace. The farmers of the village begin to discover their own power when Annegret, Anton's daughter, leaves. Is a new beginning possible for Anton? This film paints an impressive panorama of the development of a minor village in Mecklenburg from the end of the war to the uprising of 17 June 1953.

Requiem(hu)

When a young boy comes in to see a doctor abourt a red mark on his face, the doctor's wife welcomes him into the consulting room instead. As they talk, she offers him something to eat and then notes that his manner of eating is just like that of her previous husband, who died in prison many years earlier. It turns out that the young man had been his cell mate for a year, and he tells her the story of how her husband died. She then remembers (in flashbacks) how she had helped her first husband rid himself of his sexual repression, and how she had promised him she would marry her current husband if she were widowed. It seems her doctor-husband was a man who could remain untouched through any political climate, and was much admired by her first husband. Now that her memories have been awakened by the young man's account, she ignores the repeated phone calls of her current husband and decides to rid this young man of his own sexual repressions.

Mona Lisa Smile(en)

Katherine Watson is a recent UCLA graduate hired to teach art history at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College, in 1953. Determined to confront the outdated mores of society and the institution that embraces them, Katherine inspires her traditional students, including Betty and Joan, to challenge the lives they are expected to lead.

Germany, Year Zero(it)

In the ruins of post-WWII Berlin, a twelve-year-old boy is left to his own devices in order to help provide for his family.

Der Ruf der Berge - Schatten der Vergangenheit(de)

Our Daily Bread(de)

A story about a family after the Second World War. The petty bourgeois cashier Karl Weber of Berlin observes from a distance how his son Ernst participates in the building of a new socialist society. Karl does not understand Ernst's visions, instead he confides in his other son Harry. However, Harry becomes involved in illicit business and Karl quickly realizes that it would be best to join his son Ernst in the citizen-owned factory.

Lucia(sl)

A melodramatic story of Lucia, who serves as a charwoman on the Podlogar family's rich farm, and makes a fuss among householder's sons, as she becomes pregnant with one of them. A decision on whether one should be forced into marriage with the pregnant charwoman and her child, ends tragically. Will Lucia be able to sustain psychological pressure, contempt and pity of the Podlogar brothers?

How Many Years, How Many Winters!(ru)

2 or 3 Things I Know About Him(de)

What would your family reminiscences about dad sound like if he had been an early supporter of Hitler’s, a leader of the notorious SA and the Third Reich’s minister in charge of Slovakia, including its Final Solution? Executed as a war criminal in 1947, Hanns Ludin left behind a grieving widow and six young children, the youngest of whom became a filmmaker. It's a fascinating, maddening, sometimes even humorous look at what the director calls "a typical German story." (Film Forum)

Forbidden Games(fr)

Orphaned after a Nazi air raid, Paulette, a young Parisian girl, runs into Michel, an older peasant boy, and the two quickly become close. Together, they try to make sense of the chaotic and crumbling world around them, attempting to cope with death as they create a burial ground for Paulette's deceased pet dog. Eventually, however, Paulette's stay with Michel's family is threatened by the harsh realities of wartime.