Gaby Kull-Neujahr

Charles Schumann is a bartender par excellence—known the world over for his iconic Munich-based Schumann's Bar— and best-selling author of a cocktail guide the New York Times called "the drink-mixer's bible." Here Schumann is your tour guide through some of the finest bars the world has to offer, traveling from New York to Tokyo with numerous stops in between to explore the fascinating history and rich culture behind these monuments to social imbibing, a pursuit all Milwaukeeans agree is in need of extensive documentary study.

„The Frontier“ or „La Frontera“ is the undulating landscape of the Sonora Desert in Arizona, which once was a symbol of freedom on the horizon of the American West – and also a region plagued by recurrent territorial struggles. Currently, a high steel fence stretches over several miles strictly separating the USA and Mexico into two territories. Every year, the remains of hundreds of migrants are retrieved from the area. The tense situation in Arizona’s borderland has split the locals into two groups: one demanding a more technically advanced border control system, the other requesting more humanitarian help. Accompanying various locals, NGO workers and self-proclaimed border guards from the region, filmmaker Gudrun Gruber raises the question of whether the latest border control technology will finally bring peace to the area, or rather merely increase the number of deaths.

In her documentary Country Roads Marieke Schroeder embarks on a search for the authentic America - a country at a turning-point. It is a search for the substantial: the morale, the pioneering spirit that holds the nation and its population together in crisis. We meet the young generation of American singer-songwriters who consider themselves as successors of Country-rebels such as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Steve Earle. They despair of themselves and their homeland and at the same time are full of hope, full of faith. Country Music opens up our view of the soul of the American nation and lets us rediscover the land and the music.

Earl Kenneth Kaufmann is the Scary Guy. Banned and kicked out here and there. Because of his looks. A motivation trainer and speaker who campaigns worldwide to eliminate hate, violence, prejudice, and bullying in schools and corporations. In addition to being a tattoo shop owner, comic, entertainer, inspirational speaker, and performance artist.

John Baldessari is one of the pioneers of conceptual art, which revolutionized contemporary art in the 1960s, and is still a profound influence on young artists today. The film shows John Baldessari in all aspects of his work: as an artist in his studio, with the technicians he collaborates with, as a teacher interacting with his students, as a passionate observer of the contemporary scene and visiting the Biennale in Venice as well as the Basel Art Fair. This film provides us with insights into the work of a radically modern-thinking artist and sharpens our perception of the often inaccessible world of contemporary art.

The story of Jewish tenor Joseph Schmidt whose voice touched millions in the early Thirties. When Germany voted Hitler into power, Schmidt had to flee. He died in Switzerland at the age of 38.

Georg Stefan Troller, born in Vienna in 1921, crossed half of Europe as a refugee only to return with the US army in 1945 . As a filmmaker he became a chronicler of his time and with this film he engages in some bold and self-ironic navel gazing.

Wayne Lo is intellectually gifted, did well at school and plays the violin superbly. At Simon's Rock College in Massachusetts he shot dead two men unprovoked, injured many others and is now serving a life sentence. Troller draws a bold portrait that centres around one question: why?

Steven Dyer, an executive working for a giant multinational drugs company, decides to report his employer for breaches of Common Market trading regulations. One night in Basle, Switzerland, he leaves his home to post a letter, the start of a nightmare journey that leads to terrible consequences for his life, his career and for his wife and children.

"Hundsbuam" documents the everyday life of a group of problem students who attend a special school in Erding, Bavaria.