A portrait of St. Pauli and its people.
Social & External
On December 23, 2013, former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt will be 95 years old. As the second Social Democratic head of government in the Federal Republic of Germany, he shaped the country like few other chancellors. Even 30 years after the end of his time in government, he is still a highly esteemed expert whose advice and opinions are in demand. He is one of the most popular chancellors among the population and is held in the highest esteem by his party; even his political opponents at the time pay him the greatest respect.
Hamburg, Germany, 1939. Getting a passage aboard the passenger liner St. Louis seems to be the last hope of salvation for more than nine hundred German Jews who, desperate to escape the atrocious persecution to which they are subjected by the Nazi regime, intend to emigrate to Cuba.
Hamburg, summer 1945: The young English control officer Captain Hannes Hacker arrives in the Hanseatic city to initiate the establishment of a new, liberal German radio station - in the Funkhaus on Rothenbaumchaussee. But Hacker also has private ties to Hamburg. He was born here and lived here until he had to leave his hometown on a Jewish Kindertransport.
What was cinema in the past? What is cinema today? Hamburg filmmaker Dennis Albrecht asked himself these questions as he sifted through material he had been collecting since a project idea in 2008. Since then, he has repeatedly taken cameras into cinemas that no longer exist. He shot commercials, short films or events at the Grindel-Kino, Streit's, Rialto and Savoy and many other Hamburg movie theaters. In these personal perspectives, we see many cultural places that have disappeared.
A documentary about the underground singer-songwriter Tobias Gruben, his upbringing and his musical career, featuring past live perfomances by himself and cover versions of his songs by contemporary artists.
A portrait of the people in '70s and '80s St. Pauli.
Ayşe Polat grows up in Hafenstraße in Hamburg in the 1980s. The 15-year-old is surrounded by crime and is quickly pigeonholed by outsiders because of her living situation. However, the criminal environment doesn't say much about the person.
This James A. FitzPatrick Traveltalks short visits the West German cities of Hamburg, Bremen, Munich, and Heidelberg. Included are scenes of World War II destruction that lingered at the time.
Nobody captured the atmosphere of 1990s Berlin better than German photographer Daniel Josefsohn, who died in 2016 at the age of 54, leaving his mark in advertising with his irreverent aesthetic and punk sensibility. It was his spontaneous, imperfect images shot for an MTV campaign in 1994 that first made him famous.
The film follows the career of detective inspector Marianne Atzeroth-Freier through the Hamburg police force of the 80s and 90s. At the end of the 70s, Marianne is 30 years old and a single parent; she becomes one of Hamburg's first female police officers. Marianne is one of the first women ever to be promoted to the Hamburg homicide squad. The opposing forces in this male-dominated world are strong, she is not really taken seriously and is even bullied along the way, until she comes to the attention of the furrier Lutz R.. Against the considerable resistance of her superior, Marianne investigates in her spare time and makes a significant contribution to solving the case of the "acid barrel murderer".
In today's climate debate, there is only one factor that cannot be calculated in climate models - humans. How can we nevertheless understand our role in the climate system and manage the crisis? Climate change is a complex global problem. Increasingly extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and more difficult living conditions - including for us humans - are already the order of the day. Global society has never faced such a complex challenge. For young people in particular, the frightening climate scenarios will be a reality in the future. For the global south, it is already today. To overcome this crisis, different perspectives are needed. "THE UNPREDICTABLE FACTOR" goes back to the origins of the German environmental movement, accompanies today's activists in the Rhineland in their fight against the coal industry and gives a voice to scientists from climate research, ethnology and psychology.
Two men, the hint of a sofa corner and a pile of letters. Using minimalist means, the film tells the story of two brothers caught between exile in a foreign country and resistance in the underground. It takes us back to the time when the revolution seized power in Iran and tells of life between the fronts. Daniel Asadi Faezi sketches the story of his father and his brothers - based on correspondence that has lain in the cellar for 30 years.
A portrait of the Hamburg ticket manufacturing company Beckerbillett.
Short documentary about a Hamburg tenants' initiative that is fighting for its neighborhood.
A paean to alcohol as a means of survival to this world, and to the ephemeral communities created by our need not to be alone. On Christmas Eve, between six in the evening and four at night, Klaus Wildenhahn films people who are excluded from this "must be" celebration, and land up in a bar in St. Pauli, Hamburg: truck drivers and prostitutes, regular or casual customers, a coach and an amateur boxer... all desperately in search of happiness, tenderness and sex.
Short-documentary about the squat at Amandastraße 73 in Hamburg.
In this long-term documentary, a film team follows the struggle of the residents of the Esso houses and their supporters. They filmed numerous demonstrations, were present at subversive actions and chest mobs, documented neighborhood meetings and captured insights into lovingly furnished living rooms - right up to the packing of the moving boxes. The film aims to ask important questions: Was the demolition really unavoidable? Should the ownership of ruins be rewarded with tailor-made development plans? Not only activists from the Esso-Häuser initiative and residents, neighbors and tradespeople have their say, but also politicians, investors and a star architect.
A group of punks is observed and interviewed on a square in Hamburg-Ottensen. In close-ups, characteristic details of the outward appearance of punks and their provocative behavior are presented. The reactions of passengers and the owners of surrounding stores are recorded; some act emphatically tolerant and understanding, others reject them...
A documentary about the history of Hamburg-Ottensen
Torture chambers, acid vats, greased chutes and gassing rooms were just some of the devices of death designed by the Torture Doctor, H.H. Holmes in his castle of horrors. Follows Holmes' entire life as a criminal mastermind.
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
Fed up with being single on holidays, two strangers agree to be each other's platonic plus-ones all year long, only to catch real feelings along the way.
During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.
Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard—with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths—and about the villain who's to blame.
When his helicopter goes down during his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan, Marine Sam Cahill is presumed dead. Back home, brother Tommy steps in to look over Sam’s wife, Grace, and two children. Sam’s surprise homecoming triggers domestic mayhem.
Against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel's First Family is forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, while defending Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.
Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.
After an earthquake destroys their underwater station, six researchers must navigate two miles along the dangerous, unknown depths of the ocean floor to make it to safety in a race against time.
When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Chinese Army to defend the country from Huns, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. She is spirited, determined and quick on her feet. Disguised as a man by the name of Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her innermost strength and embrace her true potential.
A brutal mugging leaves Grey Trace paralyzed in the hospital and his beloved wife dead. A billionaire inventor soon offers Trace a cure — an artificial intelligence implant called STEM that will enhance his body. Now able to walk, Grey finds that he also has superhuman strength and agility — skills he uses to seek revenge against the thugs who destroyed his life.
Superman, a journalist in Metropolis, embarks on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent.
A solitary cat, displaced by a great flood, finds refuge on a boat with various species and must navigate the challenges of adapting to a transformed world together.
Cars fly, trees fight back, and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s magical abilities and courage.
Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online.
Year three at Hogwarts means new fun and challenges as Harry learns the delicate art of approaching a Hippogriff, transforming shape-shifting Boggarts into hilarity and even turning back time. But the term also brings danger: soul-sucking Dementors hover over the school, an ally of the accursed He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named lurks within the castle walls, and fearsome wizard Sirius Black escapes Azkaban. And Harry will confront them all.
When LeBron and his young son Dom are trapped in a digital space by a rogue A.I., LeBron must get them home safe by leading Bugs, Lola Bunny and the whole gang of notoriously undisciplined Looney Tunes to victory over the A.I.'s digitized champions on the court. It's Tunes versus Goons in the highest-stakes challenge of his life.