Germany

  • Peter Nestler – Die Römerstraße im Aostatal AKA The Roman Street in the Aosta Valley (1998)

    Documentary1991-2000GermanyPeter Nestler

    Quote:

    Today, the «Römerstrasse» in Italy’s Aosta valley, is a significant traffic artery in the center of modern Europe. Nestler’s journey explores the moving history of the Aosta valley, which passed through many hands – from the Roman Empire to Burgundian and Frankish kingdoms – until it was acquired by Italy in the 11th century. The now busy motorway, which runs from the Po Valley to the Great and Little St. Bernhard passes, is revealed through the timeless eyes of a historian. At the same time, the documentary sheds light on cultural traditions and contemporary life in the region.Read More »

  • Hans Steinbichler – Winterreise AKA Winter Journey (2006)

    Drama2001-2010GermanyHans Steinbichler

    Synopsis:
    A diagnosed manic-depressive whose impulsive behavior only serves to further isolate him from his increasingly irritated family and friends, Franz Brenninger (Josef Bierbichler) is a once-wealthy businessman who has since fallen on hard times. When Franz receives letter promising a healthy payoff if he simply allows millions of dollars to be transferred through his German bank account, he enlists the aid of Kurdish translator Leyla (Sibel Kekilli) and secures the 50,000 Euros needed to seal the deal, telling his trusting son Xaver (Philipp Hochmair) that he is going to use the cash to pay for his ailing wife Martha (Hanna Schygulla)’s much-needed eye surgery. Upon realizing that he has been scammed and has nothing left to lose, Franz quickly scrounges whatever funds he can gather and travels to Nairobi with Leyla in hopes of confronting the elusive con artist and getting the money back.Read More »

  • Andreas Voigt – Alfred (1986)

    Documentary1981-1990Andreas VoigtGermanyShort Film

    In “Alfred”, his final film at the film school Potsdam-Babelsberg, the documentaryist Andreas Voigt portrays the 76-year old Leipzig communist Alfred Florstedt, whom he had met just before his death in February 1985. Florstedt’s biography reconstructs Voigt on the basis of photographs and tape recordings. In addition, he visits the Leipzig West in Lindenau and in the Plagwitz work-shops.Read More »

  • Werner Herzog – Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes AKA Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)

    Arthouse1971-1980AdventureGermanyWerner Herzog

    Quote:
    Gonzalo Pizarro orders a small Spanish expedition of forty men to search for El Dorado, leaving the mountains of Peru and going down the Amazon river in search of gold and wealth. Soon, they come across great difficulties and Don Aguirre, a ruthless man who cares only about riches, becomes their leader. But will his quest lead them to “the golden city”, or to certain destruction?Read More »

  • Gerd Kroske – Heino Jaeger – Look Before You Kuck (2012)

    Gerd Kroske2011-2020DocumentaryGermany

    Quote:

    The German painter and cabaret artist Heino Jaeger was once a celebrated radio star. The radio recordings “Fragen Sie Dr. Jaeger/ Ask Dr. Jaeger” achieved cult status in the 70s. Nevertheless, this popularity seemed to “hurt” Jaeger as a painter. After ten years, he abruptly discontinued his broadcasting work and began to drink.
    Weight down by a trauma from World War II and characterized by anarchic madness, but far being an eccentric, arrogant artist, Heino Jaeger died in a psychiatric ward in 1997 at the early age of 59. He spent his last twelve years there as an alcoholic schizophrenic. His paintings are very precise, ambiguous and contain a special irony. Read More »

  • Werner Herzog – Letzte Worte AKA Last Words (1968)

    1961-1970GermanyShort FilmWerner Herzog

    Quote:
    The story of a solitary man who refuses to leave a Greek island (at one time a leper colony) is told by a strange variety of characters who don’t have much to say except to repeat their tellings over and over again. But the person who has the final word on the matter, the lonely character himself, may not explain anything about his personal reasons for not abandoning the place.Read More »

  • Rainer Werner Fassbinder – Der amerikanische Soldat AKA American Soldier (1970) 

    1961-1970CrimeDramaGermanyRainer Werner Fassbinder

    Quote:
    The German-born American GI Ricky (Karl Scheydt) returns to Munich from Vietnam and is promptly hired as a contract killer. Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s experimental noir is a subversive, self-reflexive gangster movie full of unexpected asides and stylistic flourishes, and features an audaciously bonkers final shot and memorable turns from many of the director’s rotating gallery of players.Read More »

  • Wim Wenders – Polizeifilm (1969)

    1961-1970ComedyGermanyShort FilmWim Wenders

    Quote from Wenders:
    ” It’s a film about the Munich police and their new tactics for dealing with the student situation in 1968. It showed their efforts to work in a more sophisticated and psychological way . It is a very funny movie, I think ….a little bit my Laurel and Hardy film.”Read More »

  • Wim Wenders – Reverse Angle: Ein Brief aus New York (1982)

    Wim Wenders1981-1990DocumentaryGermanyShort Film

    Quote:
    “REVERSE ANGLE was my first diary film. It is about “new wave music” (among others Jim Jarmusch’s Del Byzanteens), about straying in New York, about the editing process of HAMMETT in the presence of Francis Ford Coppola, about a novel by Emanuel Bove and about Edward Hopper. And somehow, the whole thing was a reflection about filmmaking in Europe and America.” — Wim WendersRead More »

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