Patrick Orth

Father and mother are thrilled: So now their teenager son has a girlfriend. And what a fabulous young woman she is! In contrast to his older sister Milli, 17-year-old Franz was previously an introverted, quiet, shy loner. His parents are all the more impressed when he brings home the pretty, self-confident Zoe one night. Zoe quickly finds her way into the heart of Franz’s family. Or is this young woman just telling people what they want to hear because she sees their hidden desires? After an ecstatic night in the clubs of the city of Munich with a little too much drugs, Zoe has disappeared and Franz's heart is broken. He absolutely has to see her again and goes looking for his first great love.

Five strangers of different nationalities share a car ride from Berlin to Paris. All of them have only one thing in common: wanting to reach their destination easily and cheaply. When it turns out that one passenger has a serious problem that could get them all into trouble, the trip becomes a little more complicated. The journey must go on. How it does is now up to them!

A German film team is shooting a documentary in northeastern Turkey. In a remote Kurdish village, they witness an elderly women performing a recurring ritual to keep the memory of her missing son alive. The Kurdish translator of the German crew is also the nanny of Melek, a 7–year–old turkish girl. Her father, Zafer, works for a sinister organization and is caught between loyalty to them and and fear for his family's well being when his daughter appears to be haunted by a mysterious force. The fateful encounter of these people developes a destructive power. IN THE BLIND SPOT unravels a complex net of conspiracy, paranoia and generational trauma.

Police officer Harry Österreich is a first responder at a traffic accident. Despite his best efforts, an entire family dies at the scene. Harry is shaken by the experience and increasingly obsessed by the fate of the extinguished family.

A young Saudi doctor campaigns for a seat on the municipal council, finding confidence as she combats prejudice.

Encouraged by her father who hopes to save her from a life in the provinces, Jette is about to spend a year volunteering overseas. But love stands in the way of her father's plans, and she no longer knows what she wants.

The German (punk)rock band DIE TOTEN HOSEN is a phenomenon of superlatives. In this music & concert documentary we accompany Germany’s legendary and most successful rock band with 19 millions records sold with unparalleled access on their biggest tour in band history – both in the limelight and backstage with „access all areas“.

Wanting to start a new life, 40-year-old Heli has found an institution in which she can put her younger, mentally disabled sister. Her three egocentric brothers have agreed to the plan and come to share their sister's final weekend at the house where they all grew up on the outskirts of Berlin. They find that the "baby of the litter" has turned into an unpredictable "monster". The fallout brings them closer together than they'd expected.

Armin, in his fourties, is a freelancer with lots of time and little money. He’s not really happy, but can’t picture living a different life. One morning the world looks the same as always, but mankind has disappeared.

Jonas (Benno Fürmann) and Marit (Maja Schöne) lead an unconventional relationship. They moved from Cologne to Berlin because Marit got a lucrative job there. This makes Jonas temporarily unemployed - but one has to take care of children and household.Talking together, being open and honest and making music together is the basis of this family, where everyone can make their own thing and feel at home at the same time, a family where parents see themselves as life-long companions of their children. This modern family code is put to the test when the couple meets a pioneering agreement after 14 years of relationship -both of them do not want to miss family as it is now , but they do not want to give up their sexual needs completely for the sake of domestic peace.

Without warning a father comes to visit his daughter abroad. He believes that she lost her humor and therefore surprises her with a rampage of jokes.

Canada, the summer of 1898. A group of German settlers travel towards the far north in covered wagons with packhorses and their few possessions in tow. The seven travellers set off from Ashcroft, the final railway station. Along with their leader, flamboyant businessman Wilhelm Laser, they are hoping to find their fortune in the recently discovered goldfields of Dawson, but they have no idea of the stresses and dangers which lie ahead on their 2,500 kilometre journey. Before long uncertainty, cold weather and exhaustion begin to take their toll and conflicts escalate. The journey leads these men and women deeper and deeper into a menacing wilderness. (Berlinale.de)

Luks Glück is a tragicomedy about the dubious happiness of a Turkish family between Hamburg and Istanbul, whose life by a lottery win out of joint.

Ebbo and Vera Velten have spent the better part of the past twenty years living in different African countries. Ebbo is the manager of a sleeping sickness programme. His work is fulfilling. Vera, however, feels increasingly lost in Yaounde’s ex-pat community. She can’t bear the separation from her 14-year-old daughter, Helen, who is attending boarding school in Germany. Ebbo must give up his life in Africa or he risks losing the woman he loves. But his fear of returning to a land now remote to him increases with each passing day. Years later. Alex Nzila, a young French doctor of Congolese origin, travels to Cameroon to evaluate a development project. It’s been a long time since he set foot on this continent, but, instead of finding new prospects, he encounters a destructive, lost man. Like a phantom, Ebbo slips away from his evaluator.

Thirteen German directors present short films exploring the state of their country.

The film tells the story of a steel worker named Karger who is living in the Saxon town of Riesa. Personal as well as professional changes force him to turn his back on his home town that he had never left in his whole life and to enter unknown territory. On his way into the unknown, Karger has to bid many painful farewells. However, he faces them in his characteristic indifferent manner.

Sommer ’04 is a character study of a family on vacation. German director Stefan Krohmer examines the emotional abyss and problems behind the seemingly nice facade of an intact family as they experience guilt, love and jealousy.

A new house in a new town could mean the beginning of a phase of domestic bliss for a small family. Nina, a doctor, has taken a few days off. Her husband Frieder is busy laying tiles, while their daughter Charlotte plays in her new room. But Nina is having her doubts; she stands about in the half-empty rooms, feeling thoroughly alienated. Suddenly, without saying a word, she decides to leave...

A major work of the celebrated Berlin School, the debut of Ulrich Köhler (In My Room) is a mesmerizing portrait of a young German soldier named Paul who goes AWOL and returns to his childhood home in the countryside. Over a few summer days, Paul evades the responsibilities of everyday life and falls in love with his brother’s girlfriend, disrupting the lives of everyone in his circle. With Köhler’s penchant for deadpan humor and subtle performances, Bungalow becomes a quiet mockery of militarism, familial estrangement, and youthful ennui.

Cesare used to be a star, a long time ago. The venues have become smaller and the audiences more cruel. Cesare is on his way to his next performance with his keyboarder Joe but their way ends at a fork in the road.

Cesare used to be a star, a long time ago. The venues have become smaller and the audiences more cruel. Cesare is on his way to his next performance with his keyboarder Joe but their way ends at a fork in the road.

Cesare used to be a star, a long time ago. The venues have become smaller and the audiences more cruel. Cesare is on his way to his next performance with his keyboarder Joe but their way ends at a fork in the road.