Hermann Kant

A German television format in which Günter Gaus interviewed prominent members of German society, particularly politicians. More than 200 interviews were conducted over the course of 40 years.

He could have had women, he could have climbed the ladder of his accountancy career, and he could have stood on the podium next to the highest in the land. If only he had wanted to! But Farssmann, shaken by divorce and unwilling to better himself, wants to remain what he is: an ordinary bookkeeper like you and me. And so the dollar deal with Mr. Osbar from Utah (USA) is not the first time he comes into conflict with the very palpable unreality of a country called the German Democratic Republic.

It was supposed to be a cozy Christmas evening with the family. Labor Director Walter Lörke was particularly looking forward to it. But then his daughter Anne surprised him with her future son-in-law Thomas Ostermann. And that's not all: Lörke is to become a grandfather. This doesn't suit him at all, especially as the young man clearly shows his critical attitude towards the state whose ideals Lörke has fought for all his life. An argument ensues - on Christmas Eve. Lörke leaves the apartment in a rage. But he is driven by unrest: He wants to know what kind of person his future son-in-law is and why he has such a negative attitude towards the state. It turns out that Thomas has had bitter experiences with the opportunistic attitudes of many adults and that, although he was the best student in his class, he was not admitted to university because of his critical opinions.

In the fall of 1945, nineteen year-old Mark Niebuhr, is accused of murder and is jailed as a prisoner of war in Warsaw, Poland. He maintains his claim of innocence throughout long periods of solitary confinement. When Mark is placed among a group of Polish criminals, he becomes the target of their aggression. Later, Mark experiences true hell in a communal cell with fanatical German war criminals. Turning Point is based on actual events from Hermann Kant's novel of the same name.

Winter of 1943. Cheerful, shy beginning of a tender love between the electric fitter Paul, who works on the estate on the power poles and the girl Anna. Both encounter each other during the war on a Mecklenburg estate. The three buxom and arrogant maids Elsa I, II and III, who also work in the manor, provide wit and pleasure.