Death of a World Star 1994
A mockumentary - after suffering a tragic accident on a shoot in Tuscany, Udo Kier is about to die. Alfred Edel is sent in to film an obituary.
A mockumentary - after suffering a tragic accident on a shoot in Tuscany, Udo Kier is about to die. Alfred Edel is sent in to film an obituary.
The film is set in the near future, in a world of perfect capitalism. Society is sustained by a class of top achievers; meanwhile, so-called minimum recipients live under sedation in Fortresses of Sleep. The great majority of top achievers view themselves as happy. An outsourced agency has been established for the rest: Life Guidance is charged with turning these individuals into optimal people as well. Alexander has internalized the system but one wrong word to his child triggers Life Guidance. He starts to rebel and encounters the horror of the system in all its brightness and affability.
The tale of young Gritta who lives with her father, an unsuccessful inventor. When her new stepmother tries to put her away in a convent she discovers some dark secrets there.
Due to a lack of money, Hamburg pub owner Jonny Jensen brings two partners on board. As soon as the contract is finalized, the ex-sea bear is almost struck by a blow: the shady duo want to turn his quaint harbour bar "Herz von St. Pauli" into a demimonde pub with lingerie shows. Jonny can't let that happen!
Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself. This is a German-language version made in Hollywood along side the 1930 production directed by John Francis Dillon.
Andre Rieu and the Johan Strauss Orchestra performing live in Heidelberg in 2009.
'Amok' tells 48 hours of the live of Lorenz Fuchs, a middle aged gray accountant who believes his triste and monotonous life being meaningless and absurd. For him the outside world was always hostile and aggressive. When his Boss not only unexpectedly promotes him but also reveals that he knows about his well covert emotional failings, Fuchs is thrown out of his daily routine - his defense lines are crumbling. Well hidden memories of traumatic experiences bring up a long suppressed rage that results in an outburst of violence and a bloodbath.
Hamburg ship captain Markus Jolly is hired to transport a vaccine to a Latin American port, but when the precious cargo is stolen by mobsters, he is falsely accused of engineering the theft.
Silent epic on the final years of Frederick II.
Matthieu Carriere, who once starred in German director Volkor Schlondorff's breakthrough film Young Torless, turns director himself for Fool's Mate. Michael Marwitz plays a once-famous concert pianist and chess whiz. He compromises his talents by casting his lot with a group of self-destructive druggies and gamblers. Marwitz' new circle of friends effectively ruins his marriage to Victoria Tennant, an English architect. Fool's Mate makes no effort to cheer up its audience, but this sort of fare apparently is what the European film-festival circuit thrives on.
Real estate speculator Albert Hahn is found dead in his cellar. He died of fermentation gas poisoning. The doctor in charge assumes it was an accident. But Polt knows that the dead man was hated in the community. He suspects that the murderer wanted to make the death look like an accident. Many of the winegrowers had a motive. After a long investigation in the wine cellars, he discovers that all the cellars are connected by holes. Polt doesn't want to leave the feeling that it was a murder. As he drinks some wine with his friends, they all confess to the crime. They had all poisoned Albert Hahn with the fermentation gas together, but only one of them wants to take all the blame, as the rest have children and wives. He commits suicide and leaves a confession behind.