Doris Dörrie

From the 1950s onwards, Erika and Ulrich Gregor brought countless film historical milestones to Berlin and shaped cinema discourse in post-war Germany. A look at the life and work of the couple without whom Arsenal and the Forum wouldn’t exist.

It's summer and very hot in Germany's only open-air swimming pool for women. There, women bathe topless, in a bikini, bathing suit or burkini. Each follows different rules. This always leads to friction, which the overwhelmed lifeguard is not quite able to control. When a group of completely veiled women enthusiastically discovers the women's bath for themselves, rags literally fly: Who owns the bath and who makes the rules? Who owns the female body? And when is a woman a woman at all? The lifeguard resigns, exasperated. But when a man of all people is hired as the successor as lifeguard, the situation escalates in unpredictable directions.

It's summer and very hot in Germany's only open-air swimming pool for women. There, women bathe topless, in a bikini, bathing suit or burkini. Each follows different rules. This always leads to friction, which the overwhelmed lifeguard is not quite able to control. When a group of completely veiled women enthusiastically discovers the women's bath for themselves, rags literally fly: Who owns the bath and who makes the rules? Who owns the female body? And when is a woman a woman at all? The lifeguard resigns, exasperated. But when a man of all people is hired as the successor as lifeguard, the situation escalates in unpredictable directions.

After his return from World War I, there is no more work for Fidelis in his parents' butcher shop in Swabia, Germany. To make a better life for himself and Eva, the former fiancée of a friend who fell in battle, he emigrates to Argus, a town in North Dakota, in the United States. The artist Delphine, in whom Eva will find a friend, also moves there. To relieve Eva's homesickness, Fidelis founds a singing club.

When everything in his life seems to be going wrong, downtrodden and alcohol-dependent Karl has a fateful encounter in Munich with Yu, a mysterious Japanese dancer from his father’s past. Unexpectedly, Yu begins to help Karl confront his demons (both literal and figurative) and begin to heal.

When everything in his life seems to be going wrong, downtrodden and alcohol-dependent Karl has a fateful encounter in Munich with Yu, a mysterious Japanese dancer from his father’s past. Unexpectedly, Yu begins to help Karl confront his demons (both literal and figurative) and begin to heal.

A young German woman bonds with an elderly Japanese woman while touring the Fukushima region of Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake.

A young German woman bonds with an elderly Japanese woman while touring the Fukushima region of Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake.

Football seen through the eyes of some of the best directors of the world.

In the macho world of Mariachi music, very few women can hold their own. Just like the songs they play, this film is a snapshot of life, death and the things in between - seen from a bird's-eye perspective.

In the macho world of Mariachi music, very few women can hold their own. Just like the songs they play, this film is a snapshot of life, death and the things in between - seen from a bird's-eye perspective.

After a series of catastrophically failed marriages, Apple is single again. Blame on Apple's attachment is in her opinion, her mother Ingrid. Because this Apple has punished not only with her hippie name, but was in every way a raven mother. When Ingrid spends an All Inclusive vacation in Spain, her mother and daughter are confronted with a dramatic event from their past.

After a series of catastrophically failed marriages, Apple is single again. Blame on Apple's attachment is in her opinion, her mother Ingrid. Because this Apple has punished not only with her hippie name, but was in every way a raven mother. When Ingrid spends an All Inclusive vacation in Spain, her mother and daughter are confronted with a dramatic event from their past.

After a series of catastrophically failed marriages, Apple is single again. Blame on Apple's attachment is in her opinion, her mother Ingrid. Because this Apple has punished not only with her hippie name, but was in every way a raven mother. When Ingrid spends an All Inclusive vacation in Spain, her mother and daughter are confronted with a dramatic event from their past.

Two young people in Berlin, a refugee and a homeless punk, form a relationship.

Two young people in Berlin, a refugee and a homeless punk, form a relationship.

When a salon refuses to hire her because of her plump figure, irrepressible hair stylist Kathi plots revenge by opening her own beauty parlor next door. But when she faces a cash-flow problem, Kathi resorts to some creative means of raising capital.

This is not merely another film about cinema history; it is a film about the love of cinema, a journey of discovery through over a century of German film history. Ten people working in film today remember their favourite films of yesteryear.

After finding out that her husband, Rudi, has a fatal illness, Trudi Angermeier arranges a trip to Berlin so they can see their children. Of course, the kids don't know the real reason they're visiting -- and the catch is, neither does Rudi...

After finding out that her husband, Rudi, has a fatal illness, Trudi Angermeier arranges a trip to Berlin so they can see their children. Of course, the kids don't know the real reason they're visiting -- and the catch is, neither does Rudi...

A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.

A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.

A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.

A shared love of fish leads to a variety of romantic predicaments in this offbeat comedy from writer and director Doris Dörrie. Otto (Christian Ulmen) and Leo (Simon Verhoeven) are two men from Germany who have launched a successful business in which they import koi, the beautiful Japanese fish, for collectors in their native land. While on a business trip to Japan, Otto and Leo meet Ida (Alexandra Maria Lara), a German tourist who is studying fashion design. Ida begins traveling with the two men, and surprisingly develops an infatuation with the rumpled Otto instead of the handsome Leo. When Ida discovers she's pregnant with Otto's child, the two marry, and upon their return to Germany, Ida attempts to join in the business by creating a line of scarves decorated with koi patterns. However, the honeymoon proves short-lived, and Ida's presence creates a rift between Otto and Leo, as the latter sets up his own concern, raising koi with his new bride, Yoko (Young-Shin Kim).

Nackt is the story of three couples, one of which just broke up, one that seems to be about to and one perfectly okay. They are all friends and from time to time they gather to talk about everything.One time they gather for dinner at the second couple's "mansion" - the husband became rich with his business. We see each couple as they prepare themselves for the party and learn a lot about their relationships.At the dinner they get to talking about recognizing each other's peer with closed eyes and decide to try it (thus the title "Nackt"=naked in German).

Nackt is the story of three couples, one of which just broke up, one that seems to be about to and one perfectly okay. They are all friends and from time to time they gather to talk about everything.One time they gather for dinner at the second couple's "mansion" - the husband became rich with his business. We see each couple as they prepare themselves for the party and learn a lot about their relationships.At the dinner they get to talking about recognizing each other's peer with closed eyes and decide to try it (thus the title "Nackt"=naked in German).

After Sam, a penniless Afro-German singer, discovers he's HIV positive, he gets utterly drunk, spends a few miserable days, but promptly falls (back) in love. Amidst a crumbling former East Berlin (its bulidings, cars, people & culture), Sam develops a "family" for the new millenium, for the new generation of post-drug cocktail AIDS victims. The fragile "family" he forms includes his on-again-off-again boyfriend Rainer, and his best friend Bastl with his latest fling, Mike. Like the old, schmaltzy East German songs which Sam is recording, the sweet innocence of the characters struggle to prevail, the misfortunes of the characters nothwithstanding.

The film consists largely of a series of interviews with female filmmakers from several different countries and filmmaking eras. Some, such as Agnès Varda and Catherine Breillat (both from France), have been making films for decades in a conscious effort to provide an alternative to the male filmmaking model; others, such as Moufida Tlatli (Tunisia) and Carine Adler (England), are relative newcomers to directing, and their approaches seem more personal and less political. The film as a whole manages to cover some important topics in the feminist debate about film -- how does one construct a female gaze, how can one film nude bodies without objectifying the actors (of either sex), what constitutes a strong female role -- while also making it clear that “women’s film” comprises as many different approaches to filmmaking as there are female filmmakers.

Two middle aged German brothers - one New Age and recently divorced, the other uptight and sceptical - travel to a Zen monastery in Japan in search of enlightenment, or perhaps just in search of themselves.

In 1996, cinematographer Helge Weindler died in Almeria, Spain, while shooting his wife Doris Dörrie's new film. A year later, she set out to retrace her grief and pain in a very private film.

German people having trouble with love and identity.

German people having trouble with love and identity.

Documentary by Eckhart Schmidt.

On the brink of her 30th birthday, Fanny feels the door to marital happiness closing on her. She is obsessed with death and even visits evening classes on dying, so it seems fitting that she encounters a skeleton in the malfunctioning elevator of her apartment building. The skeleton is her neighbour Orfeo, a Black, gay, self-declared psychic, who convinces her that she is about to meet "him". But is it really Lothar, the new yuppie apartment manager ...?

On the brink of her 30th birthday, Fanny feels the door to marital happiness closing on her. She is obsessed with death and even visits evening classes on dying, so it seems fitting that she encounters a skeleton in the malfunctioning elevator of her apartment building. The skeleton is her neighbour Orfeo, a Black, gay, self-declared psychic, who convinces her that she is about to meet "him". But is it really Lothar, the new yuppie apartment manager ...?

Kemal Kayankaya, a private detective, was hired by a Turkish women, Ilter, to search for his husband, Amend, who has been missing since the death of her father, Vassif. Unknownst to him, he was about to unravel the secrets of his client's family, as well as their various dealings with the underworld and the police. Moreover, being a Turk raised in a German foster family, he has also begun to understand and accept his own ethnicity.

Kemal Kayankaya, a private detective, was hired by a Turkish women, Ilter, to search for his husband, Amend, who has been missing since the death of her father, Vassif. Unknownst to him, he was about to unravel the secrets of his client's family, as well as their various dealings with the underworld and the police. Moreover, being a Turk raised in a German foster family, he has also begun to understand and accept his own ethnicity.

A man's enthusiastic penis starts talking to him, getting him into awkward situations and convincing everyone he tells that he's completely insane.

A man's enthusiastic penis starts talking to him, getting him into awkward situations and convincing everyone he tells that he's completely insane.

Viktor and Angelika are a straight couple. He is a professor of veterinary science and she has studied art history. Both are more interested in their hobbies and professions than in each other; also, Viktor isn't terribly interested in satisfying his wife anymore. Their upright relationship changes dramatically when Viktor gets to know Lotte, a former school friend of Angelika's. Back in school, Lotte would have done anything for Angelika.

Viktor and Angelika are a straight couple. He is a professor of veterinary science and she has studied art history. Both are more interested in their hobbies and professions than in each other; also, Viktor isn't terribly interested in satisfying his wife anymore. Their upright relationship changes dramatically when Viktor gets to know Lotte, a former school friend of Angelika's. Back in school, Lotte would have done anything for Angelika.

A successful, womanizing middle-aged man decides to move out of the house he shares with his wife after she confesses to having an affair. He looks for a new place to live and ends up moving into his wife's lover's apartment as a roommate. The husband begins to take an interest in the artistic work of the lover and coaches him for a big job interview. Little does he know that the job he's helping the lover to get is within his own company... A story about strange circumstances and the limits of friendship.

A successful, womanizing middle-aged man decides to move out of the house he shares with his wife after she confesses to having an affair. He looks for a new place to live and ends up moving into his wife's lover's apartment as a roommate. The husband begins to take an interest in the artistic work of the lover and coaches him for a big job interview. Little does he know that the job he's helping the lover to get is within his own company... A story about strange circumstances and the limits of friendship.

Berlin Film Fest 1984. The best place for every cinema fan. Everyone wants to be in on the festival, but that may be really difficult, if one has no accreditation. Also Journalist Matthies gets to know the rules of being in or out when he wants to see a screening and is not welcome. Thus he watches an old German silent flick which he is barely interested in. The next day the newspapers are full of reports about a newly discovered German masterpiece from the silent era. It seems that Matthies had luck. He just saw *the* film everybody is talking about now. Also everybody is speculating about its director, who remains unknown. When Matthies talks to Ackrewa, an old befriended projectionist, about the film, the latter seems to recall the name of the director. Matthies decides to research the case. An odyssey into film-history begins and if it is successful Matthies will come up with a top story.

Released in Germany in 1983 as Mitten Ins Herz, Straight Through the Heart was director Doris Dorrie's first feature. Beatte Jensen portrays an odd, quirky young girl. She inaugurates a romance with divorced middle-aged dentist Sepp Bierbichler. Both lovers are neurotic, and both seem to thrive on feeding off each other's neuroses. Director Dorrie, who'd first gained critical acceptance with her 1978 short subject The First Waltz, furthered her reputation with the highly original and perceptive Straight Through the Heart, but wouldn't achieve worldwide fame until her second feature, Men... (85).

Film by Doris Dörrie.

Film by Doris Dörrie.

Pepe is 15. His life in social misery changes completely when he is chosen as the main character of a film production. Shot on location where he lives with his primitive, brutal and authoritarian father, a pig farmer.

On December 12, 1945 Maria Stadler got (as one of the first from the American occupying power) the license to operate a movie theater. At first she ran a traveling cinema, which went so well that she opened on 30 October 1953 Maria's Kino in Bad Endorf, which still exists today. In the winter of 1976/77 students of the Munich University of Film and Television made a documentary about the idealist, who had since become a movie legend.