
Bliss – directed by Doris Dörrie and adapted from the short story by Ferdinand von Schirach – recounts the tale of Irina, who leaves her war-torn country to become a prostitute on the streets of Berlin and Kalle, also living in on the streets of the German capital. These two individuals are alone and lost in the world until they are brought together through a chance encounter. As their relationship blossoms, a cataclysmic event threatens to destroy their fledgling love, with Kalle forced to extreme measures in order to preserve their happiness.
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Tag Archives: Germany
Two Mothers / Zwei Mütter (2013) Anne Zohra Berrached, Karina Plachetka, Sabine Wolf, Florian Weber, Drama

Katja and Isabella decide to have a child. However, like many lesbian couples they soon discover that this is much more difficult than they first imagined. Citing legal reasons, most of the sperm banks and fertility clinics refuse to treat them. Fortunately, they are able to find one doctor willing to help – for a large sum. After a while, Katja decides she wants to call a halt to their ‘project’ on account of the toll it is taking on their relationship, not to mention their beleaguered bank balance. But Isabella refuses to give up. She finds a dealer who sells them a kit allowing them to perform the insemination in the comfort of their own home. There are plenty of men on his website willing to sell their sperm for various sums and sometimes one or two additional conditions. And so they begin ‘casting’ for a potential donor – a process that drags on for several difficult weeks. This fictional story is part experiment and part salutary tale. Containing all manner of sensitive material such as research, statistics, facts, prognoses, dreams and realities, this exciting work charts the vibrant terrain between fiction and reality.
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What Will Become of You / Was soll bloß aus dir werden (1984) Horst Flick, Michael Karnowsky, Peter Seum, Anita Lochner, Drama

In this 1984 West German film, a 12 year-old street kid in a slum of Berlin struggles to stay afloat through a commitment to his compassionate teacher and ambivalent classmates, aged 11-14, who also bear the harsh marks of impoverishment, which manifest themselves in peer ruthlessness and disrespect of adults. Film contains frequent profanity, alcoholism, mild crime and peer violence, brief male nudity.
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Kameradschaft / Comradeship (1931) Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Alexander Granach, Fritz Kampers, Ernst Busch, Drama

An old German mine was split in two after the end of WWI because of where the new border was located. In the French part a fire breaks out; the German miners send a rescue group in, helping their French comrades. Three old German miners, who were not treated friendly at a French inn the night before, start their own private rescue through an old tunnel that separated the two mines. Will the official rescue party realize there are others left behind in time to save them?
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Vortex (2001) Michael Pohl, Hardy Krüger Jr., Harald Leipnitz, Arne Fuhrmann, Sci-fi

In the near future crime rates are at an all time high. The government counters this development with a new prison: The Vortex. Innocent citizen Vincent is sent there, after he killed a man who tried to rob him in self-defense. In the Vortex everybody has to commit their crime over and over again. Vincents first victim is his neighbour Carl.
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Fire, Ice and Dynamite (1990) Willy Bogner, Roger Moore, Shari Belafonte, Simon Shepherd, Action, Comedy

Sir George fakes his own death so that his estate will go to the winners of the “Megathon”, a pseudo-Olympics event. His three step-children are forced to compete in a variety of winter-type sports against top athletes representing other companies George owed debts to, so that they can gain their inheritance.
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Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977) Robert Aldrich, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sci-Fi, Thriller

A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of a secret meeting held just after the start of the Vietnam War between Dell and the then President’s most trusted advisors.
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Diaboliquement vôtre / Diabolically Yours (1967) Julien Duvivier, Alain Delon, Senta Berger, Peter Mosbacher, Crime, Drama, Thriller

After a near fatal car crash and three weeks in a coma, a man awakens to a new life, attempting to search for his true identity after suffering amnesia. The more he remembers, the more dangerous it gets.
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The End of Violence (1997) Wim Wenders, Traci Lind, Rosalind Chao, Bill Pullman, Drama, Thriller

Mike Max is a Hollywood producer who became powerful and rich thanks to brutal and bloody action films. His ignored wife Paige is close to leaving him. Suddenly Mike is kidnapped by two bandits, but escapes and hides out with his Mexican gardener’s family for a while. At the same time, surveillance expert Ray Bering is looking for what happens in the city, but it is not clear what he wants. The police investigation for Max’s disappearance is led by detective Doc Block, who falls in love with actress Cat who is playing in ongoing Max’s production.
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Die Fälscher / The Counterfeiters (2007) Stefan Ruzowitzky, Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Crime, Drama, War

The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936. Salomon “Sally” Sorowitsch is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards, booze, and women in Berlin during the Nazi-era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog. Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival, he once again comes face to face with Herzog, who is there on a secret mission. Hand-picked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Bernhard. The team, which also includes detainee Adolf Burger, is given luxury barracks for their assistance. But while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany’s allied opponents, Adolf refuses to use his skills for Nazi profit and would like to…
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