Am Todesstreifen: DDR-Grenzer erzählen(2020)

Among Men: Gay in East Germany(de)

More than two decades ago, a country in Europe existed that marked the border to a different political and economic system, yet was the very heart of the continent. This country called the German Democratic Republic, made Socialism a reality and was home to 17 million people. Born in the deep eastern provinces, Ringo Rösener witnessed East Germany's collapse as a nation. Ringing in the new millennium, he leaves his hometown of Anklam to live out his homosexuality – something he had never dared to do. Would an openly gay life even have been possible in the real Socialist system? Ringo Rösener meets six gay men who lived in the GDR. Some of them speak openly about their sexuality for the first time in their lives. Little by little, they open up, share their stories, and talk about their lives in the supposedly uniform state.

Kill Giggles(en)

Tommy dos Santos wasn't born a psychopath, nor was he made into a sociopath. He was something entirely new, and he was walking his own path - a path that will run red with the blood of the foulest most fiendishly frightening creatures ever conceived by man! No longer do they have the starring role in our nightmares, it is now the clowns who are the prey, running for their lives from a killer who won't stop until every single one of them is dead. As Tommy's body count rises, he finds himself getting closer and closer to what he thought was a ghost, the once great clown king known as "Giggles," and wonders - if laughter can't die, how about Giggles?

The Last Ones(it)

Checo, the son of poor Friulian farmers, feels different from other boys because he is more intelligent, sensitive, and gifted with imagination. Others isolate and mock him, and give him the nickname of "Scarecrow," and Checo ends up identifying with that macabre bird. One day, exasperated, he decides to flee to Venice, with the dream of becoming a painter.

Home(hr)

She watches him through the window as he loads the final pieces of furniture into the truck. They are counting down the last hours in their home. Their seven-month-old baby is asleep, unaware of the trouble brewing. They will either vacate the apartment peacefully, or they will be forcefully evicted. Their home, her father's legacy, used to be their safe haven, their family nest. Now, corrupt courts, greedy bankers, and unscrupulous real estate investors have turned it into a site of their worst nightmares. As tension rise, they struggle to preserve their relationship. In the morning, as police knocks on their door, their future seems uncertain, but their options are very clear: either accept injustice or show resistance.

Aguilas de acero(es)

Two Air force pilots are best friends in that competitive, always picking fights with each other way.

Belonging(tr)

Kaan has always been looking for a meaning in his life. Gizem and Bengi were in love but the city didn't welcome much girls like them. Fuat had spent his life as a homeless in the streets of Istanbul. There has been a belief that an old spiritual ship once got stuck in Istanbul. A ship that would only be visible to the ones who would belong to it, who would need it in their lives. A ship that would take them to where they belong to. The ship was about to take off. The film is inspired by the short animation film called "How Did The Amentu Ship Move", made in 1970 by Tonguç Yaşar and Sezer Tansuğ.

Noon, le pain de Téhéran(fr)

Britney Spears - L'innocente Rebelle(fr)

The Lady in White(en)

A man trying to maintain his innocence finds himself tormented by a vengeful entity looking to consume his soul.

The Last Blossom(ko)

Middle aged housewife Kim In-Hee's mother-in-law has Alzheimer's disease, her physician husband is always tired and indifferent to her needs and her children has become wayward. For her family, Kim In-Hee has devoted her life as a daughter-in-law, wife and mother. Kim In-Hee then learns that she has terminal cancer and is dying. The mother accepts her fate and sets up the most beautiful goodbye to her family.

Sarima(es)

East of the largest island of the Antilles, Cuba, in the city of Gibara Raúl, an actor who has been invited to the film festival sees a beautiful young woman who comes out of the sea with a yellow dress and seaweed on her head in one morning. This happens while walking in a wind farm on his trip to the city.

Thåström: Som Jordgubbarna Smakade(sv)

With four sold-out gigs at Cirkus in Stockholm, one of the year's most acclaimed and watched Swedish tours kicked off in 2012. The album Beväpna Dig Med Vingar, which came out earlier this year, has been praised in unison, among other things in the words of Jan Gradvall in DI - "One of Sweden's greatest artists throughout the ages at the absolute peak of their ability". To sum up this fantastic year, parts of the two concert nights are now being released, partly from Cirkus in Stockholm and also from Sentrum Scene in Oslo.

It Came from the 80's!(en)

A collection of three 80's-inspired horror-comedy film trailers parodying zombie, slasher and monster movies. The Sitting Dead follows a pregnant couple in a dystopic world where zombies have taken all the chairs. "Jump Scare II: Double Dutch" follows a gym teacher and his evil twin who kill students with jump ropes. "Snack Time" follows a police chief's mission to stop a monster vending machine.

Der Amokläufer - Aus Spiel wird Ernst(de)

A Reggae Session(en)

Gathered together for one night, the legendary names of Reggae and more meet at Fort Charles, Jamaica for a musical event that would reverberate around the world!

Female Hostel 3(ko)

Lonely boarding house women! Any man who goes in there can't come out in one piece! Boarding house owner Hyeon-jeong and tenants Seon-mi and Joo-hee have a rule; boyfriends are allowed to visit, but they can't sleep together! One day, Joo-hee brings in her boyfriend, Jeong-sik, and they secretly spend a hot night together. The next morning, Jeong-sik tries to leave quietly, but gets caught by Hyeon-jeong. She tells him that he broke the rules and he needs to be punished, so she comes on to him.

The Vals(en)

Sam, Trish, Beth, and Annie are four Valley Girls bored with shopping and frat parties. They come across kind Mr. Stanton, who is running a home for orphaned boys. Mr. Stanton and his charges are in danger of being evicted from their home if they don't come up with the rent money that is due, and one of the boys has taken to selling drugs for a couple of sleazy dealers. When Trish's prized "TUBUL R" Mercedes convertible is lost in a bet in which their Beverly Hills rivals have cheated, mayhem ensues as the Vals, with the help of their frat boy boyfriends, save Mr. Stanton and his boys from being evicted, give the drug dealers their just desserts, and exact revenge on the Beverly Hills brats in a rematch.

Playboy: Sexy Lingerie VI, Dreams & Desire(en)

A host of Playmates explore an exciting new realm of dreamy delights and daring desires.

Schleimkeim - Otze und die DDR von unten(de)

A punk documentary about the life and death of the GDR punk Dieter "Otze" Ehrlich and his band Schleimkeim aus dem Schweinestall. With the fall of the Wall, Otze loses not only his enemy images, but also his life at the price of freedom.

Fotoshooting DDR - Bilder zwischen Propaganda und Alltag(de)

Pride & Attitude(de)

The viewpoints of women from a country that no longer exists preserved on low-band U-matic tape. GDR-FRG. Courageous, self-confident and emancipated: female industry workers talk about gaining autonomy.

I Love You All(de)

A film on the surveillance and the control in East Germany also speaks about it - representing extreme and almost unbelievable image of a society which has acquired one super-narrative and developed a system which makes it impossible to even speak about the possibility of anything outside it.

Change of Scenery(en)

Born in Germany in 2002, Noa Blanche Beschorner evokes the memory of those who, a generation before her, lived through the separation of East and West Germany. Tapetenwechsel (Change of Scenery) is the story of youth seeking their identity when confronting their collective memory.

Drei Frauen(de)

East German Schlager is dead. Long live the East German Schlager!(de)

Siegfried "Siggi" Trzoß, a radio moderator from East Berlin, is working tirelessly leading up to his anniversary and 900th show. The music his heart burns for is East German Schlager, a genre politically ignored at first and widely forgotten now. But Siggi keeps the dream alive to this day, making the hearts of seniors jump higher in nostalgia all over east Germany.

Zielitz - Der Kampf ums Weiße Gold(de)

Becoming Black(de)

In the 1960s, a white couple living in East Germany tells their dark-skinned child that her skin color is merely a coincidence. As a teenager, she accidentally discovers the truth. Years before, a group of African men came to study in a village nearby. Sigrid, an East German woman, fell in love with Lucien from Togo and became pregnant. But she was already married to Armin. The child is Togolese-East German filmmaker Ines Johnson-Spain. In interviews with Armin and others from her childhood years, she tracks the astonishing strategies of denial her parents, striving for normality, developed following her birth. What sounds like fieldwork about social dislocation becomes an autobiographical essay film and a reflection on themes such as identity, social norms and family ties, viewed from a very personal perspective.

Immer bereit(de)

Documentary (in colour) about the first youth meeting (Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend) in East Berlin in 1950.

From Us To Me / Vom Wir zum Ich(de)

This first co-production between the GDR and Great Britain is intended to contribute to an understanding of the situation and attitudes of millions of working people in opposing social orders. Using the example of shipyard workers, fishermen, the brigade and family of a trade union active cook and unemployed person of various ages and professions in Newcastle on the one hand and a brigade of crane operators of the Warnowwerft and fishermen of the Warnemünde cooperative on the other hand, insights into the way of life and attitudes of people of our time are to be conveyed.

Die Randgemeinschaft(de)

Auf der Oder(de)

Der Sturz - Honeckers Ende(de)

What We Remember(de)

Nine very private encounters with different people of the post-war generation and their memories of childhood and youth. Among others, the guitarist and singer Peter "Caesar" Gläser and the actress Christine Harbort. Roland Steiner asked his contemporaries about - "What we remember ...". All interviewees are as old as the state they live in. Nine CVs from the GDR are described. They have different professions, from skilled worker and scientist, nurse and saleswoman, actress or rock musician, even a minstrel is included. They remember what shaped them: Family, school, birthdays and hot summers, the happy moments and their own failures.

The Open Secret(en)

A documentary that explores questions of secrecy and power in relation to the East German Secret Police (the 'Stasi') within East German society. The film is based upon key findings from an extensive research project, 'Knowing the Secret Police', and reflects upon how different kinds of knowledge were circulated through social, religious, political and literary networks within the former GDR. The filmmakers present this research with footage filmed at key locations throughout East Berlin and the wider surrounding landscape, including the Stasi archives and former HQ, Karl-Marx-Allee, Volkspark Friedrichshain, rural 'dacha' cabins, the urban neighbourhood of Prenzlauerberg and the social housing estates of Marzahn.

In Syrien auf Montage(de)

The film is a reportage showing the help of workers from the GDR in the industrial reconstruction of Syria. We witness the friendly relationship between workers from both countries, who are jointly involved in the construction of the cotton spinning mill in Homs. In impressive pictures the exoticism of the environment and the mentality of the Syrian hosts is shown. At the same time it becomes clear that the workers from the GDR become 'ambassadors of the GDR' through their collegial behaviour and good work.

Dance Dance Documentary(en)

In 1999, Konami Corp. introduced a Japanese-influenced coin-operated arcade stand-up to the U.S. It's draw was unheard of for a video game: the combination of music, competition, and interactive video-gameplay along with actual physical activity. Four years later, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) has become one of the most popular game crazes stateside and found easily in video game stores and in nationwide retail markets. This story explores the youth culture surrounding the game and follows a group of devoted players and documents their interactions at various arcades and tournaments.

1–2-tip für immer - Disko in der DDR(de)

Hotel Astoria(de)

At Hotel Astoria, the former hotspot of Leipzig, guests were served champagne and turtle soup while the Stasi listened in. Animated memories from times gone by.