Germany

Explores the life and work of the Austrian novelist, playwright and political activist, Peter Handke.Read More »

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Handicapped Future is a 1971 documentary film by Werner Herzog about physically disabled children in Munich. The film was made at the request of a disabled friend of Herzog’s, specifically in order to raise awareness for the cause of the disabled in West Germany.Read More »

Former left-wing terrorists Clara and Hans have been on the run for 20 years, and have raised a 15-year-old daughter, Jeanne, in hiding. The couple are planning to leave Europe permanently for Brazil, but when their money is stolen, decide to risk returning to Germany in the hope of raising funds from past associates. Instead, they discover their old friends are now respectable members of society who are eager to disavow their past activities. With the family’s security coming under threat, Jeanne begins to crave a more normal life of shopping, hanging out with friends, and a boyfriend…Read More »

For this Swiss-German documentary, filmmaker/Sinologist Ulrike Koch sneaked cameras into Tibet in order to film four men and 160 yak in a 2,000-year-old ritual — the annual spring pilgrimage to gather raw salt at remote lakes, a three-month Himalayan trek. Camping along the way, they engage in prayers, talk, and songs. Following nomadic traditions, the saltmen make the return trip with salt in backpacks made from yak pelts. In addition to Tibetan chanting, the film’s music includes a post-production blend of Hamburg musicians and native Tibetans. After a digital video transfer to film, the 108-minute documentary was shown at several 1997 film festivals, including (Sundance, Vienna, Taormina, and Pusan). ~ Bhob StewartRead More »

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Karl Zimmermann plays piano at the Café Rigoletto because he needs the money, but actually his whole passion is classical music, and work on his own opera is in progress. Then he meets the pop singer and song writer Anni Pichler, whom he wants to convert to “serious” music, but even the private lessons at his bachelor pad cannot convince her. Despite everything, the two find each other appealing, and they marry after a short time.
Professionally now everyone goes his/her own way, but at home things don’t go well. Money’s always scarce, and Anni complains he could earn more if he’d write music people like. And when Karl’s opera bombs, he hits rock bottom and they break up.Read More »

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The destructive nature of a rising Nazi menace is the subtext in this drama about a young man in Germany in the late ’20s. While he enjoys a certain immunity from hard times because of a rich friend and female companionship, he is not blind. He sees mounting injustices in the society around him and cannot always reconcile them with his own views. After his love life gets a jolt and he loses his job, he debates whether or not to work for a Nazi newspaper as the future seems to look worse each day.Read More »

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In Eschnapur, a German architect saves the life of the Maharajah’s favorite temple dancer and becomes Maharajah’s friend but their friendship is tested when the architect and the dancer fall in-love, triggering the Maharajah’s vengeful ire.Read More »

Two barge skippers fall in love with the same woman.

“Under the Bridges”, made in the last year of the Third Reich, proves that artistic genius can flourish even under the most difficult circumstances. The film completely transcends its time and presents a simple love story, the themes of which are universal. Through both his settings and his actors, Kautner achieves a naturalism which has seldom been equaled. That he managed to do this in 1944-45 Germany is almost unbelievable. A fortunate and unexpected treasure from a most unfortunate time.Read More »

“Herakles” is a 1962 short film and the first film by the German director Werner Herzog, then 20 years old. The film relates to six of the twelve labors of Heracles. The film starts with shots of young male bodybuilders working out in a gym, posing on a stage and flexing their muscles. Each of the labors are then announced by on-screen text in the form of a question, followed by related scenes of modern challenges inter-cut with the bodybuilders.Read More »