Erich Franz

A socialist story of "atoms for peace" and compulsory labor in an East German uranium mine under Soviet control.

A humorous and satirical comedy, which places a man from the year 2222 one day in the (then) present day life in GDR, East Germany under Communist regime. Using a crystal for mind reading he uncovers some improprieties and moral weaknesses in the "Beautiful future" professed by VEB ("Volkseigener Betrieb" – "State Owned Holdings").

Hannes comes forward with a suggestion on how to make his brigade more efficient. Due to his success, he and all of his colleagues are granted a special leave. They decide to spend their free time in a holiday home. Hannes, however, does not join them. Instead, he pretends that he has to help his wife Irma with the installation of a machine for the agricultural cooperative. While Irma thinks that he spends his holiday with the brigade, Hannes goes on a road trip with the young and pretty Monika who has no idea that he is married.

After their successful May party, now the Lehmann family want to throw a New Year's Eve part with punch. Wilhelm's sons Franz and Paul are brigade leaders at a chemical factory. One of their brigades consists largely of fanatics of high culture, while the other consists of sports fanatics. But the rival brigades must work together in order to throw a successful New Year's Eve party for the factory, since the occasion requires both elements: sports and culture.

Film by Joachim Hasler.

A pianist from Poland visits a town in West Germany and starts to remember details about her life during the war.

The soldier Martin has been relocated to a small border village in Thuringia. During a storm, he comes to the rescue of Renate, a farmer′s daughter. The two young people fall in love, thereby upsetting Renate′s father who has already promised his daughter to the son of the big farmer Grabow. Henceforth, he does his utmost to tear Martin and Renate apart. Meanwhile, Grabow prepares to flee the GDR with the help of the lance-corporal Zimmer who is indebted to him.

It is the 65th birthday of Wilhelm Lehmann, foreman of a chemical company. All members of the large family are expected. Preparations are also being made in the company: Wilhelm is to be awarded the »Labor banner« and, as every year, the sons are responsible for the may bowl. But instead of family members, telegrams with rejections flutter into the house.

A refugee from a Nazi concentration camp is discovered by some boys in WWII Berlin. They provide him with food and help him to continue his flight. Later one of the boys, the son of a communist, is charged with theft, arrested and sent to a concentration camp.

A car factory in the GDR. During a test ride there is a major accident. One driver is dead, another is seriously injured. The investigation reveals: sabotage.

A story about thirteen years old Kalle who is moving with the family from West Berlin to East.

In a casino in a We'5t German health resort, one often sees Sybille - an attractive young student actress. With her winnings from the roulette table, she attempts to finance her studies. Despite a rather lucky streak, her winnings are a little on the lean side. She doesn't, however, gamble with her own money but with that of Dr. Busch, a lawyer, who likes to stay in the background with the argument that gambling houses are not the proper turf for a serious lawyer. From him, Sybille receives only a small share of her winnings later, and only through the intervention of Gerhard Fischer, a journalist, does Sybille come to realize her role in Dr. Busch's fraudulent scheme.

Lifelong hard work for the count makes the servant Anton a cripple. Everybody calls him Crooked Anton. When, after the end of the war, the land of the count gets divided amongst the farmers, Anton receives a piece and hopes to be able to work freely. But an old debt and intrigue keep Anton and his family from finding peace. The farmers of the village begin to discover their own power when Annegret, Anton's daughter, leaves. Is a new beginning possible for Anton? This film paints an impressive panorama of the development of a minor village in Mecklenburg from the end of the war to the uprising of 17 June 1953.

Mid-1950s Berlin, before the building of the Wall. Uschi, a salesgirl and aspiring fashion model from the East, is attracted to Hans, from the West. But she also loves the bright shop windows in his part of the city. The flashiness of this new world soon evaporates, however, when Hans loses his job.

The two half-orphans Reni and Rolf are 13 and 10 years old and they live with their grandmother in Berlin. Their father has died during the war, their mother works at a Baltic Sea port. Here she meets a captain who wants to marry her. When their mother tells them about the planned wedding, Reni and Rolf are reluctant to meet the captain.

The authorities expect the case of Friedel Walter, alias "Dr. Mueller," to be a straightforward one: he was working as a doctor without proper credentials under a false name. But Mehlin, the man in charge of his case, knows that there is more to the story. When he was injured fleeing from a concentration camp, resistance worker Irene asked her medical student boyfriend Walter to give him medical care.

Krestan Serbin, a 64-year-old Sorbian farm-worker, considers himself non-political. He owns a few acres, a few pigs and a cow, and intends to pass all this on to his daughter Lena. Lena, however, shows only little interest. Krestan’s situation becomes more difficult when he is meant to become integrated into the agricultural production cooperative. He even gets offered a position as Training Supervisor. Although Krestan does not oppose the new policy, he is unwilling to surrender his properties. When the political die-hards who intend to hinder the progressive movement try to win him over, Krestan realizes that it is time to show colours.

This film is the second of a two-part historical and biographical portrait of the communist politician and anti-fascist Ernst Thälmann. Autumn, 1918: Somewhere on Germany’s western front, Ernst Thälmann, age twenty-four, is calling on his fellow soldiers to put down their guns and join him in the communist struggle at home. When Hamburg’s Police Commissioner blocks a much-needed food shipment to the workers of Petrograd, Ernst battles to see it allowed through. Until his murder on August 18, 1944, Ernst remained true to his political convictions in the face of many setbacks.

Two boys from West Berlin, Klaus and Max, live in poverty. They dream of a career in boxing and save every penny in order to buy boxing gloves for training. Nevertheless, they cannot seem to save enough and so they let themselves be hired by the bartender Klott for a twisted scheme. However, Klaus overhears one of Klott's conversations and learns that Klott intends for the boys to steal horses from the East Berlin Barlay Circus, where Klaus recently made some good friends. Indignant, he sets out to stop the robbery—and an adventurous action story results.

This film is the first of a two-part historical and biographical portrait of the communist politician and anti-fascist Ernst Thälmann. In early November 1918, Ernst Thälmann is an unwilling soldier serving on the western front. As the revolutionary movement at home is threatened by the betrayal of the Social Democrats and fissures in the working class, Thälmann calls on his fellow soldiers to put down their weapons and unite with the workers in the communist struggle at home. Thälmann’s qualms about which side he is fighting on continue, but when the local police attempt to prevent a shipment of provisions and supplies from reaching the people in Petrograd, he intervenes and the ship is unloaded. With this moment of clarity, Thälmann continues to follow his political convictions and joins the workers at the Hamburg uprising in October 1923.