Manfred Oppermann

In April 1992, ultra-orthodox Jews of the Athra-Kadisha came to Hamburg to demonstrate against the final destruction of the Jewish cemetery. The cemetery, where bones still lie, was to be built on with a shopping centre. The film shows the history of this Jewish cemetery, recalls the former Jewish community in Altona and gives an insight into Jewish religious life and culture.

The small fishing village of Amble by the Sea on the Scottish North Sea coast is struggling with harsh living conditions and dwindling job opportunities. One day, they notice a dolphin feasting on the salmon and instead of moving on, he simply stays on the coast near the fishing village. He is soon christened Freddie and becomes a tourist attraction. Is this the turning point for Amble by the Sea?

How do blind people perceive the world and which sensory impressions remain hidden from sighted people? The experimental film explores this question in a multi-layered way. A sculptor's workshop, a painting museum and an orchestra become the settings for the richness that the perceptions of the different senses bring with them. Sound and image merge and bring the theme to life.

At the beginning of cinematography were a variety of devices and inventions that produced animated images. They meet me today as a colorful group of plastic in the souvenir shop or chewing gum machine. This survival story is documented in the installation “Zu Hundert Jahre Film”; the film documents this installation.

With its numerous interviews, the film is an inventory of current forms of resistance. It shows the strength, but also the weakness of the momentary disputes. The story, the practice and the discussion are described in the film – an exciting affair.

A whimsical depiction of the Hamburg city port (life?).

A movie that shows conversations with a friend. It longs for clarity, not necessarily wisdom; he is looking for connections that give him meaning. This film gives reason to think about why young people go to the Hitler Youth in the early 1930s and find what they are looking for there.

Years ago, SONY advertised with the slogan “The mobile memory”. We fell for it. The memory faded. The starting situation for the film was this crisis: The half-inch magnetic tapes dissolved and could no longer be played, they squeaked when trying to get them to work. We called it the squeak plague. Our archive threatened to disappear. We started talking about the future. How is everything supposed to go on, the whole thing here? Also the question of video or celluloid and whether we still feel like it at all. If you ask a lot, you get a lot of answers. A fan-like montage of images and sounds about the future was created. In search of social reality, the volume is also an answer, but without patent recipes.

This video is not about legend making, but about Nazi propaganda. The tone of a Hitler speech contrasts with synthetic images.

The attempt to deal with a magazine format. Topic: Work situations. "We had a binding structure. From the idea to completion four weeks à five working days. The beginning was the 1. May, we finished in time; hence the title. Nevertheless, it is not only the result of a concept, but also the masterpiece of several years of cooperation.

In 1937, on behalf of Hitler, a competition was announced among the most important architects in Germany. The task was the redesign of the Hamburg Elbe bank. The face of the city was to be moved from the Alster to the Elbe. In addition to Berlin, Linz, Nuremberg and Munich, the Hanseatic city was thus declared a "Führerstadt". Representation and administrative buildings for the party and the private economy were to be created. The architects involved in the project are interviewed. They reflect their activity and function at that time.

A documentary about the children's area of the AFA (Active Leisure Activities Altona e. V.). For years, this leisure center was the fixed meeting place for children and young people. A meeting place in the Altona-Altstadt district, which is designated as a redevelopment area. The film describes the atmosphere and work in a sub-area of the AFA. The film is history, the AFA was dissolved in 1982.