Inge Dochow

Documentary on the former border patrol sergeant Klein. Klein deserted in 1961, defected to the enemy and betrayed state and military secrets. He was caught by the security forces.

A few days after the GDR built the Berlin Wall, West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer commented that this was "an infamous and brutal act against our brothers and sisters in the Zone." Director Walter Heynowski digs into this ubiquitous West German expression, using footage from West German newsreels and TV programs, and compares the life of "brothers and sisters" in East and West Germany. In this propagandistic documentary, the director juxtaposes images of class hierarchy and conflict in the West, with images of a flourishing East.

A film about Jewish cemeteries in East Berlin, based on a screenplay by Günter Kunert, with text by Rabbi Martin Riesenburger. There are shots of gravestones and inscriptions – deported, murdered, perished; in Auschwitz or Theresienstadt. Commentary reminds us of the victims – "in 1933, 160,564 Jewish citizens lived in Berlin; in 1945, 3,500".

The film follows the career of Karl-Theodor Molinari from major in the Wehrmacht to general in the Bundeswehr. Authentic archive material and eyewitness testimonies are used to gather evidence of Molinari's guilt in the deaths of over a hundred French resistance fighters.

Based on the life experiences of photographer Horst Sturm, the story of Kollwitzplatz in Berlin is retold.

In a reception camp for ethnic Germans in Eisenach, the director gets to know the girl Doris S. who went to West Germany and came back. This film interview tells the story of her individual fate in a divided Germany.

Documentary film about the Spanish Civil War.

A short biography of Arnold Zweig, through the lens of East Germany state media.

East German short film

No description available.

This black-and-white documentary reports on a meeting of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid in East Berlin from March 24 to 29, 1974.

Using some unique documents and pictures, this colour film shows the life and work of Martin Luther in the context of his own time and his relevance to our time. Most of the places associated with Luther, the great Reformer and translator of the Bible, are in the GDR. Thousands upon thousands of tourists visit these places every year and learn how his legacy is kept alive and how it is protected today and for the future.

In the spring of 1965, Polish citizen Sheybal visits the town of Genthin. He knows his way around the sugar factory. He had to work there as a prisoner of war during the Second World War. He suffered a life-threatening accident. Now he is looking for the people or their relatives who helped him.

For the 70th anniversary of Bertolt Brecht’s birth, international Brecht experts, including directors Giorgio Strehler, Benno Besson and Juri Ljubimov, got together for a one-week Brecht Dialog at the Berliner Ensemble on Schiffbauerdamm. Participants discussed the contemporary role of Brecht, nationally and internationally; Brecht’s directorial methods; the collaboration between director and actor; and the theater ensemble’s role in society. Actress and Berliner Ensemble director Helene Weigel gave the final keynote, emphasizing the political role of theater. This short film features scenes from Brecht’s model staging of Mr. Puntila and His Man Matti, played by students at the Schauspielschule Berlin, from the Berliner Ensemble staging of Coriolanus; and from The Exception and the Rule, played by Berlin-based Arab lay actors under the direction of Syrian director Chérif Khaznadar.

Shortly after the construction of the wall in August 1961, many guests visit the East German army troops who protect the wall.

A filmed reportage on the 1st session of the International Commission of Enquiry into the Crimes committed by the military junta in Chile, Helsinki, March 1974.

This documentary chronicles the life and work of Halle's most famous son, the composer George Frideric Handel.