Allemagne de l'Ouest, au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Un adolescent, Michael Berg, fait par hasard la connaissance de Hanna, une femme de 35 ans dont il devient l'amant. Commence alors une liaison secrète et passionnelle. Pendant plusieurs mois, Michael rejoint Hanna chez elle tous les jours, et l'un de leurs jeux consiste à ce qu'il lui fasse la lecture.
En pleine nuit, le 5 septembre 1972 alors que les jeux olympiques battent leur plein, un groupe de huit palestiniens s'introduit dans un bâtiment du village olympique hébergeant les athlètes de la délégation israélienne. Ils prennent en otage un groupe d'israéliens et abattent deux fuyards dès les premiers instants. Puis leur entraineur meurt à son tour. Il reste alors huit hommes entre les mains des palestiniens. Ces derniers veulent la libération de leurs frères retenus dans les prisons israéliennes en échange de leurs otages. Mais les négociations trainent et n'aboutissent pas. La position délicate de l'Allemagne face au peuple israélien n'est que suggérée dans le film, mais est dans les esprits de tous en raison du souvenir amer qu'a laissé la Seconde Guerre mondiale, ne laisse pas au gouvernement allemand de cette époque le droit à l'erreur. Pourtant tout cela va se finir dans un bain de sang atroce inévitable.
En août 1988, deux braqueurs de banque armés tiennent la police allemande à distance pendant 54 heures lors d'une prise d'otages dramatique qui se termine par une fusillade et trois morts.
A beautiful East German Olympic hopeful pole-vaults over the Berlin Wall to freedom.
En septembre 1977, le « patron des patrons » allemand, Hans-Martin Schleyer, est kidnappé puis assassiné par la Fraction armée rouge (RAF). Des terroristes palestiniens, proches du mouvement, prennent en otage un avion afin de réclamer la libération des membres de la bande à Baader. À la suite de ces événements sanglants, plusieurs réalisateurs se voient proposer la réalisation d'un court métrage sur le sujet…
Une jeune Américaine en vacances en Allemagne est, suite à une méprise, enlevée par le KGB. Incarcérée à l'Est, elle découvre l'enfer et la corruption de l'univers carcéral...
Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, The brothers Koeman… These were some of the superstars from Holland whose blazing talents made the European Championship of 1988 so memorable and one to log indelibly in the whole recent legend of outstanding international football.
Eight teams qualified for the tournament finals, including England who scored more goals than any other side, 18, to reach the final stages – and the Cinderella side from the Republic of Ireland, managed by Jack Charlton.
But most of all Euro ’88 had a winning side who swept all before them in a colourful and passionate series of displays that will be viewed again and again by anyone fascinated and intrigued by the way the world’s most popular game is so sumptuously developing as it enters its second organised century. It is a must for fans and serious students alike.
The 1974 finals in West Germany saw the emergence of "Total Football" in the shape of the classy Dutch led by the legendary Johan Cruyff. The Dutch swept all before them until they came up against the solid hosts in the final. Beckenbauer led West Germany to a tense 2-1 victory.
When Chris Gueffroy becomes increasingly disillusioned with his life in 1980s East Germany, he hatches a plan with his friend, Christian Gaudian, to escape the isolated Eastern bloc state without telling his mother, Karin. The pair believe that the standing order to shoot anyone who crosses the Berlin Wall, as ordered by the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, Erich Honecker, has been lifted due to the state visit of Swedish PM Ingvar Carlsson. The young men seize their chance and attempt the fateful escape to the west.
May 27th, 1971 was a rainy day. In the small town Radevormwald, the world seems to be still in order.
But on this day, 46 people die in a train crash, amongst them 41 schoolchildren. Since then, Radevormwald has been connected with one of the worst railway catastrophes of Germany. The touching documentary reconstructs the tragedy and shows how much the event still influences the life in the town until today.
Agent secret en Allemagne de l'Est depuis près d'un demi-siècle, Lemmy Caution, déjà peu utilisé par les services de renseignements, est devenu encore plus inutile après la chute du Mur de Berlin, qui sépare dorénavant l'Allemagne de l'Est de l'Allemagne de l'Ouest. Il décide alors de rentrer à l'Ouest et parcourt l'Allemagne de long en large, dans une solitude propice aux bons comme aux mauvais souvenirs et à la nostalgie. Il enquête sur ce mystérieux pays qu'est l'Allemagne, appelle à témoigner Novalis, Schiller ou encore le génial Fritz Lang et Fassbinder, rencontre bientôt Don Quichotte et l'inoubliable et charmante héroïne de « Werther ». Une question le taraude pourtant dans son périple : si l'Est n'existe plus, où est l'Ouest ?
Four inseparable friends from childhood struggle in the best years of their lives when one grows up to become a prize fighter, second a police detective, third a nightclub runner and the fourth sets them all at loggerheads.
Endless beaches, dunes, heath and the Wadden Sea characterize the landscape of Sylt. Germany's largest North Sea island is also a paradise for numerous animal and plant species. Around half of its area is under landscape or nature protection. In spring and autumn, thousands of migratory birds stop here on their way between Siberia and East Africa. Sheep graze on the dike meadows, female seals give birth to their young off Sylt. And the Sylt Wadden Sea is one of the last large wilderness areas in Europe. But in winter storms hit the island. If the “Blanke Hans”, as the storm on Sylt is called, causes the North Sea to rage, it hits the island with tremendous force. Only a few places on the German North Sea coast are as exposed to the force of the sea as the west coast of Sylt. The documentary shows Sylt's nature in fascinating images. People who are particularly connected to the island and its nature are accompanied in their everyday lives.
This James A. FitzPatrick Traveltalks short visits the West German cities of Hamburg, Bremen, Munich, and Heidelberg. Included are scenes of World War II destruction that lingered at the time.
During the donations scandal of 1999/2000, Helmut Kohl gave his legendary "word of honor" not to name any donors. This documentary explores the question of what this word of honor was really all about
Kraftwerk's vision of a keyboard-driven world of clicking metronomic rhythms and digitised sound bites may have been the stuff of avant fantasy in the 1970s (the decade that saw the band's first groundbreaking albums), but it is a reality in the new millennium. Their visionary style is explored in KRAFTWERK AND THE ELECTRONIC REVOLUTION, a study of the group, their career and their emergence as the most influential electronic band in the world.
Marcel Ophüls interviews various important Eastern European figures for their thoughts on the reunification of Germany and the fall of Communism.
A film about and with Max Ernst.
A BAFTA award nominated documentary intended for secondary schools exploring the three distinct geographical regions of Germany from a British perspective.