Der lange Weg ans Licht

Edeltraut Hertel - a midwife caught between two worlds. She has been working as a midwife in a small village near Chemnitz for almost 20 years, supporting expectant mothers before, during and after the birth of their offspring. However, working as a midwife brings with it social problems such as a decline in birth rates and migration from the provinces. Competition for babies between birthing centers has become fierce, particularly in financial terms. Obstetrics in Tanzania, Africa, Edeltraud's second place of work, is completely different. Here, the midwife not only delivers babies, she also trains successors, carries out educational and development work and struggles with the country's cultural and social problems.

Babies at 50

In this revealing one-hour special, we look at the lives of older mums and women desperate to become mothers - at any age. Medical experts say that it is now possible for a woman of 80 to have a baby but is it morally and ethically correct? This heart-rending program looks at the difficult choices facing women who want to become mothers late in life and explores the desperate measures they take in order to fulfill their dream.

Stuttgart Shanghai

A young pair from Stuttgart fly to Shanghai to hop aboard the textile business of his father while she prepares for the birth of their son. A story about the ever more common movement of Germans into the East for professional gain.

Bodysong

Documentary footage from various sources, set to music. Showing the whole of human life, from birth to death and beyond.

Secret Life of Babies

Think you know your baby? Think again. This beautifully shot, heart-warming and scientifically revealing film, narrated by Martin Clunes, brings you babies as you've never seen them before. The first two years of our lives are the most critical of all. We grow more, learn more, move more and even fight more than at any other time in our life. We have to master the complex skills of walking, talking and relating to the world around us. But we are not yet built like an adult. We have more bones in our body at birth than an adult does, yet we don't have kneecaps. We laugh 300 times a day as a baby, but in the first few months we can't produce tears when we're upset. Secret Life of Babies reveals all these facts and more, telling incredible stories of babies' resilience and survival skills to boot.

Olmo and the Seagull

'Olmo and the Seagull' is a poetic and existential dive into an actress's mind during the nine months of her pregnancy as she must confront her most fiery inner demons while trying to rewrite a new philosophy of life, identity and love. Underlying this hybrid film is mounting tension over what is real and what is enacted when one is performing one's own life.

Waiting Time

Under the shade of a Magnolia tree, a group of pregnant women gathers weekly. Among them is Teresa, an experienced midwife who listens to them attentively. Sitting in a circle, the women reflect on the impending birth of their children and their own emerging roles as mothers.

1997: The Birth of the Camera Phone

On June 11th, 1997, Philippe Kahn created the first camera phone solution to share pictures instantly on public networks. The impetus for this invention was the birth of Kahn's daughter, when he jerry-rigged a mobile phone with a digital camera and sent photos in real time. In 2016 Time Magazine included Kahn's first camera phone photo in their list of the 100 most influential photos of all time.

Dream of Storks

Based on her own experience, which she extends through the testimonies of other infertile people, director Élodie Lélu shows how Medically Assisted Procreation modifies the relationship to the body and to the imaginary.

The Baby Formula

Two adventurous women in love are desperate to have their own biological child. They take a chance on an experimental scientific process and make sperm from their own stem cells. Pregnant with humor and unexpected twists, their journey ultimately confirms that all life is a gift and all families are crazy.

Eva-Maria

Eva-Maria works as a secretary at a teacher training college. A position she is very proud of. It was not easy to get this job, because she has been dependent on a wheelchair since her childhood due to spastic cerebral palsy. However, Eva-Maria has never let herself be intimidated. She knows what she wants and how to get it. Without compromise, she wants to create the life she has always dreamed of. One of her biggest dreams: a child of her own. With the help of in vitro fertilization, she now wants to fulfil this wish for herself. Supported by her family and accompanied by her assistants, she tackles "the child project". But her situation is unknown territory for everyone. The peculiarities of her body present new and unfamiliar challenges to both medicine and her assistants. Documented by one of her assistants, this film provides an unusually intimate insight into a life beyond conventional family planning.

Naître d'une autre

The Story of the Weeping Camel

When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.

The Journey: Mother Ocean

Famous and talented feature film director and scriptwriter Jan Kounen plunges the viewer into a unique and thrilling adventure of pregnancy, birth, and baby’s first swim, alongside marine creatures. Leina Sato is a Japanese professional free diver and is expecting her first child. Her partner, Jean-Marie Ghislain is a famous underwater photographer. They share a passion for the oceans, and believe that a strong bond between a mother-to-be and cetaceans exists. And they want to prove it. Leina will be multiplying her encounters with whales, dolphins and other underwater mammals. Mother Ocean is the incredible encounter between humans and under water species, around the universal question of giving birth and the power of creating life.

Roman Chariot

A vehicle of consciousness navigates the vertiginous labyrinths of San Francisco. ROMAN CHARIOT was filmed over several months with a spy camera mounted on filmmaker David Sherman's son's baby carriage.

The High Song

Filmed largely in close-up, this documentary records a woman giving birth while her husband remains at her side. The camera concentrates on her face throughout labor, briefly revealing the moment of the child’s arrival before the newborn is placed in her arms.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.

The Business of Being Born

Birth: it's a miracle. A rite of passage. A natural part of life. But more than anything, birth is a business. Compelled to find answers after a disappointing birth experience with her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to explore the maternity care system in America

Life Before Birth

With cinematic storytelling, a moving musical score, computer animation, and 4D ultrasound images, this documentary accompanies a new human life from conception to birth, poetically describing developmental milestones and the human experience of living in a womb.

Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret

Enter the world of undisturbed birth as 11 couples share their intimate personal journeys, facing their fears and moving through pain into the ecstasy of birth. Orgasmic Birth poses the ultimate challenge to our cultural myths.

Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream

Life Is But a Dream is a HBO documentary about the life of US singer Beyoncé Knowles during the years 2011 and 2012 and on the recording of her fifth album. The film was directed by Beyoncé herself. The film shows Beyoncé from intimate moments of her pregnancy to behind the scenes and rehearsals of the main concerts of that time.

One Life

One Life captures unprecedented and beautiful sequences of animal behaviour guaranteed to bring you closer to nature than ever before, as well as a second disc packed full of never before seen extras including an exclusive making of featurette narrated by Daniel Craig.

Downloaded

A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.

Heart of a Dog

Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.

For the Love of Spock

The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.

Iverson

Iverson is the ultimate legacy of NBA legend Allen Iverson, who rose from a childhood of crushing poverty in Hampton, Virginia, to become an 11-time NBA All-Star and universally recognized icon of his sport. Off the court, his audacious rejection of conservative NBA convention and unapologetic embrace of hip hop culture sent shockwaves throughout the league and influenced an entire generation. Told largely in Iverson's own words, the film charts the career highs and lows of one of the most distinctive and accomplished figures the sport of basketball has ever seen.

Love, Marilyn

Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.

The September Issue

A documentary chronicling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's preparations for the 2007 fall-fashion issue.

Lemmy

Over four decades, Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister has registered an immeasurable impact on music history. Nearly 65, he remains the living embodiment of the rock and roll lifestyle, and this feature-length documentary tells his story, one of a hard-living rock icon who continues to enjoy the life of a man half his age.

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.

The Crash Reel

The Crash Reel tells the story of a sport and the risks that athletes face in reaching the pinnacle of their profession. This is Kevin Pearce’s story, a celebrated snowboarder who sustained a brain injury in a trick gone wrong and who now aims, against all the odds, to get back on the snow.

David Byrne's American Utopia

A filmed version of David Byrne's Broadway show, a unifying musical celebration that inspires audiences to connect to each other and to the global community.

Girl Rising

Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.

One Soldier's Story: The Journey of American Sniper

Join director Clint Eastwood and his creative team, along with Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller, as they overcome enormous creative and logistic obstacles to make a film that brings the truth of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's story to the screen.

To Be Takei

Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.

Deliver Us from Evil

Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady offer a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining trust ... all the while betraying so many.

A Plastic Ocean

A documentary focused on plastic pollution in the world's oceans.

I Am Heath Ledger

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

That's Entertainment!

Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.

Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown

A chronicle of the life, work and mind that created the Cthulhu mythos.