Adolf Peter Hoffmann
1906 - 1982Das Leben beginnt
Heiner Carow
Doris Abeßer, Erik Veldre
A new world full of excitement and temptation opens up for 18-year-old Erika when her father flees from Krüselin, a small village in Brandenburg, to West Berlin, taking his daughter with him. Her uncle's luxurious house, the turbulence of life in the big city, and her cousin's progressive thinking and quick wit all turn her head at first. But behind all this glitter and tinsel lurks the cold, hard world of money and Erika begins to feel homesick for the town where she grew up and for Rolf, her first real boyfriend.
Life Begins
Solange Leben in mir ist
Günter Reisch
Horst Schulze, Lyudmila Kasyanova
This is part one of a two-part biopic about Karl Liebknecht. In 1914, Germany is arming itself for war. Karl Liebknecht, left-wing revolutionary Social Democrat, workers’ leader and a virulent antimilitarist, is one among 110 SPD members of Parliament who vote against approving war loans. From then on, he is considered un-German and a traitor to the fatherland, and his own party’s leadership turns against him. Despite threats, Liebknecht speaks up against the war and writes the manifesto “The Main Enemy Is at Home.” Even when he is arrested and charged with treason, he does not surrender.
As Long as There’s Life in Me
The Adventures of Werner Holt
Joachim Kunert
Klaus-Peter Thiele, Manfred Karge
Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and Gilbert Wolzow, are pulled out of school and into Hitler's army. Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier; but at the front, Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war.
The Adventures of Werner Holt
Men and Beasts
Sergei Gerasimov
Nikolay Eryomenko, Tamara Makarova
The plot is based on the dramatic fate of the Red Army commander Aleksei Ivanovich Pavlov. Having been captured in January 1942 and being among the displaced persons, he didn't immediately decide to return to the USSR. Having rolled around the foreign country for 17 years, Aleksei nevertheless returned to his homeland. He goes to his brother in the south of the country to Sevastopol. Aleksei accidentally meets the doctor Anna Andreyevna, who was saved from death in besieged Leningrad. She travels by car from Moscow and also to the south, with her daughter Tanya; she suggests he join them. Aleksei tells about his life on the road.
Men and Beasts
Trotz alledem!
Günter Reisch
Horst Schulze, Lyudmila Kasyanova
October 1918: Karl Liebknecht is released from prison and Berlin workers celebrate his release. Although WWI is almost over, the German Kaiserreich in vain sends its last reserves to the slaughter. The working class is in a rebellious mood; the uprising of Kiel’s sailors against war and militarism sets off a call for revolution led by Liebknecht. On November 9, Liebknecht declares the Free Socialist Republic of Germany. But pro-Kaiser military and right wing Social Democrats oppose him.
Despite It All!
Wolz - Life and Transfiguration of a German Anarchist
Günter Reisch
Regimantas Adomaitis, Carin Abicht
Soldier Ignaz Wolz returns from WWI with an immeasurable hatred of capitalist war profiteers. He decides to start his own revolution, but tries to stay away from the organized class struggle. He steals from the rich men and divides the wealth among the poor. One day, Wolz is arrested and sentenced to life in prison; seven years later he is released due to mass protests. More than ever, it is hard for him to fit in. He severs ties with his former companions, who reject his ideas, and leaves Germany.
Wolz – Life and Transfiguration of a German Anarchist
Der Student von Prag
Henrik Galeen
Conrad Veidt, Elizza La Porta
For Balduin, going out to beer parties with his fellow students and fighting out disputes at the tip of the sword have lost their charms. He wants to find love; but how would he, a penniless student, ever dare looking up to any woman worth of loving? Absorbed in his dreary thoughts and indifferent to the advances of Lyduschka, Balduin is unexpectedly offered a fortune by the mysterious money-lender Scapinelli - but on a strange condition...
The Student of Prague
Was wäre, wenn...?
Gerhard Klingenberg
Willi Narloch, Gerd Ehlers
In the late 1950s, the collectivization of agriculture is in full swing in the East German village of Willshagen on the German-German border. Those in charge have to face many obstacles, especially from a large-scale farmer who is unwilling to join the co-op. All of a sudden, mysterious men in a fancy car appear in the village and show an interest in the rundown manor house. Gossip spreads quickly, and some villagers think there will be a re-parceling of properties and a land swap with West Germany. They assume everything will go back to how it used to be and even expect the count to return to his manor. In preparation, the situation in the village escalates at a fevered pitch.
What Would Happen If...?
Ernst Thälmann - Sohn seiner Klasse
Kurt Maetzig
Günther Simon, Hans-Peter Minetti
This film is the first of a two-part historical and biographical portrait of the communist politician and anti-fascist Ernst Thälmann. In early November 1918, Ernst Thälmann is an unwilling soldier serving on the western front. As the revolutionary movement at home is threatened by the betrayal of the Social Democrats and fissures in the working class, Thälmann calls on his fellow soldiers to put down their weapons and unite with the workers in the communist struggle at home. Thälmann’s qualms about which side he is fighting on continue, but when the local police attempt to prevent a shipment of provisions and supplies from reaching the people in Petrograd, he intervenes and the ship is unloaded. With this moment of clarity, Thälmann continues to follow his political convictions and joins the workers at the Hamburg uprising in October 1923.
Ernst Thälmann – Son of the Working Class
