Das Glück am Horizont

Literary adaptation: a handsome youth of humble origins rises in society through his connections made as an elevator attendant in a luxury hotel.

The successful writer Paul and the sought-after voice actress Emilia were always considered to be the absolute dream couple by friends: Harmonious, happy, successful, with three charming children named Bo, Marie and Fe. But now, in their late 40s, their relationship is threatened by a crisis.

The same situation is played out in different cities (New York, Berlin and Tokyo). A lover has to choose whether to commit to a partner who is returning home. In each case there are other people involved, an ex-partner and someone else in a "permanent" relationship, what do they choose to do?

Viktor, a methodical hit man, probably on his last job, has no plan for his retirement. He does not kill Nina, a woman sleeping beside his latest mark; then he follows her and rescues her from an attempted suicide. Nina is attracted to him, but also wants to know who he is. Her pursuit of his identity crosses the investigation of Lang, a brilliant police investigator who tries to inhabit the minds of the victims and the killer. Viktor's employer also wants to kill Viktor and his contact, an aging arms dealer and family friend. Does Viktor have a future?

Elated by the Italian attitude to life, family Struutz returns to Bitterfeld and experiences a shock: In the turmoil of the reunification her house must give way to a golf course. Hope Udo teacher, his wife Rita and daughter Jacqueline through the surprising inheritance of a factory near Dresden. But of market economy, the staid Saxons unfortunately have no idea. Help comes in the guise of adventurer and condoms dealer Charlie, who works as a "business consultant" and gives Udo a Rock & Roll crash course in capitalism - with unsurpassed success.

An American historian (Mr Webster) comes to Berlin to visit an old man who claims to be the real Adolf Hitler and to be 103 years old. The Hitler who died in 1945, the old man says, was just one of his six doubles - one for each weekday - while Hitler himself retired into a bunker below the S-Bahn tracks and married a second time.

The heterosexual man Axel is thrown out of his girlfriends home for cheating and ends up moving in with a gay man. Axel learns the advantages of living with gay men even though they are attracted to him and when his girlfriend wants him back he must make a tough decision.

Based on a true story, Miguel Alexandre's two-part drama focuses on an East German woman and the fight for her children. Spring 1982: Sara Bender, living with her daughters Silvia and Sabine in the East German town of Erfurt, wants to marry her colleague Peter, but shortly before the wedding, her father is killed in a road accident. As the funeral takes place in West Germany, she isn't allowed to got there, so she starts planning to leave her communist home country forever. Trying to flee via Romania, she is caught by the secret service. After years in jail, Sara is ransomed by the West German government, but without her daughters. To draw the world's attention on her desperate situation, she starts demonstrating at the Berlin border crossing Checkpoint Charlie

Paul and Paula have had bad experiences with love: Paul is financially well off but has lost all affection for his wife, and Paula leads a troublesome life raising two children on her own. They meet and discover a strong passion for each other. Life seems like a dream when they're together - but their short flights from the burdens of reality are once and again interrupted by Paul's ties to family and career.

Based on Tommy Jaud's bestselling novel, this comedy focuses on a dispassionate clerk and his set-backs in life. 29-year-old Simon works in a phone shop, but his thoughts just circle around finding a new girl-friend after being left by his last one year ago. While his Croatian cleaner tries to procure him, his efforts to chat up women in clubs also fail. However, he finds the woman of his dreams (and mother of their future children) in his most hated coffee shop, although not having a clue how to win her heart...

Twenty-year-old Dora works as a maid in a hotel and has access to all of the guests' belongings while they are away. This time she is interested in the suitcase of a guest in room 34 ...

The sympathetic music teacher Clarissa Springer leads a thoroughly average, but contented life in Freiburg. She lives with her father Walter, whom she has cared for since her mother's death. Although her boyfriend Marco urges her to finally move in with him, Clarissa does not have the heart to let her father "down", at least not so shortly before his 70th birthday. A special, rare guest arrives on Walter's day of honor: Ina, Clarissa's younger sister. Ina, beautiful and internationally successful as a model, turned her back on her homeland years ago and lives in Paris.

Thirteen-year-old Jonas Ettenberger's parents were killed in a traffic accident. Now the Hamburg city boy has to live with his grandfather in the deepest Bavarian province by order of the youth welfare office. The boy finds it difficult to get used to country life and the Bavarian dialect, as does his widowed grandfather to his grandson, whom he has only just met. But Jonas quickly makes friends with his new classmate Julia Stelzer. In the meantime, Harald Messner, Jonas' uncle, finds out that his nephew has inherited a lot of money. Although he also lives in affluence in Munich, he and especially his new wife Sonja hope to get even more money through Jonas. They appeal to the youth welfare office for custody of the boy and are proved right. Jonas has to return to Munich, even though he is now very happy with Grandpa Ludwig and his housekeeper Rosi.

One Saturday, the Slurb, a strange little creature with a proboscis nose, enters Mr. Taschenbier's life. Slurb, who immediately adopts the shy Mr. Taschenbier as his "daddy," is, however, his sheer opposite: he is cheeky and chaotic and throws his well-ordered life into sheer chaos. But when Taschenbier discovers that he can fulfill all his wishes with the help of Slurb's blue freckles, his life suddenly changes. He appeases his bad-tempered landlady, Mrs. Rotkohl, and he can finally get one over on his nasty neighbor, Mr. Lürcher. Everything could be so nice if Mr. Taschenbier didn't fall in love with his pretty colleague Mrs. März and if the Slurb didn't almost burst with jealousy...

What use is a good Abitur if the climate is changing? For 17-year-old high school student Lilly, there are more important things than school. It looks correspondingly bleak with their admission to the Abitur! While father Martin fails with a bang to lure her with a dream trip, mother Nina makes an unusual deal: if Lilly really crams from now on, her parents will in return help protect the climate. From now on, only fresh food will be cooked at home, lavender will replace industrial washing powder and you can go to work by bike! There are only exceptions for little brother Tom. But the road to an emission-free life is not a sure-fire success. After weeks, agency owner Nina and chief physician Martin are not only looking for secret exceptions to the rules, but also get into discussions about their lives up to now. And since Lilly doesn't quite stick to the deal with her parents either, the initially abstract discussion about climate-friendly living escalates into a true family crisis.

Kerstin, daughter of a Stasi officer, escaped East Berlin life but is pulled back when her father secretly manipulates her career. After the Wall falls, she and former West programmer Reginald use forged documents and hidden cash to build new identities and jobs, but old loyalties, secret pasts, and resurging temptations threaten their fresh start.

The washed-up pop star “Black Jack” meets the young burglar Jeff Stankowski. He helps him out of a dangerous situation, takes him to Hamburg, and befriends him. Jakob is fascinated by Jeff's profession and the thrill that comes with it. Jeff trains him to be a safecracker, and in return, Jakob promises to make Jeff a huge star in the music business.

The British parliament has decided to get rid of the royal family. All of them have to leave the county and so they move to Germany, where they want to live by their distant relatives, the Bettenberg family. But these are not amused about their snobbish visitors, which all want to reside in their little house without doing any work to earn their living.

A fanatical anti-smoker falls in love with a smoker and becomes embroiled in a criminal case involving cigarette smuggling.

A commercial artist with a lisp chooses silence, unexpectedly propelling his career. His perceived innovation leads to rapid advancement in an ad agency. Mueller-Stahl shines in this biting critique of East German workplace culture.

When 13-year-old school misfit Florian stumbles upon a mysterious meteorite, his life takes an unexpected turn. Suddenly, he finds himself aging rapidly—sometimes appearing as an old man, sometimes as a toddler—causing chaos in his already turbulent life. As he struggles to keep his condition a secret from his crush, his best friend, and his overbearing parents, Florian realizes he must find a way to reverse the strange effects before he disappears completely. A heartwarming and humorous coming-of-age adventure, Dinosaurier – Gegen uns seht ihr alt aus! explores the ups and downs of growing up… at every possible age!

17-year-old Traudel flees the orphanage she has to live in, in order to venture to Berlin.

Au revoir les enfants tells a heartbreaking story of friendship and devastating loss concerning two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie—until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Malle’s own childhood, the film is a subtle, precisely observed tale of courage, cowardice, and tragic awakening.

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

In 1942, Friedrich Weimer's boxing skills get him an appointment to a National Political Academy (NaPolA) – high schools that produce Nazi elite. Over his father's objections, Friedrich enrolls. During his year in seventh column, Friedrich encounters hazing, cruelty, death, and the Nazi code. His friendship with Albrecht, the ascetic son of the area's governor, is central to this education.

In the occupied Netherlands during World War II, banker Walraven van Hall is asked to use his financial contacts to help the Dutch resistance. With his brother Gijs, he comes up with a risky plan to take out huge loans and use the money to finance the Resistance.

In the not-too-distant future Berlin is shocked by a series of spectacular suicides; a policeman's investigations lead him to a beautiful, enigmatic woman and the revelation of a sinister plot to manipulate the population through mass hypnosis.

Laura sees a shooting star falling to earth and finds it in a park, down on the floor and with a broken point. The star is a living being, and Laura takes her home to reattach its point with a band-aid. The little star has special powers and can make people fly, or bring inanimate objects to life. But the more she stays on Earth, the weaker she becomes and her colors fade away and her powers start to fail. Laura must find a way to send the little star back into outer space.

After six and a half years in the toughest prison the near future has to offer, Morris the fraudster tries to survive his last day in jail. With his booty of five million Dollars hidden safely within the prison walls he cannot wait to get out and start a bright future. But first he must survive the constant threat of the world ending outside and the attempts of his fellow inmates inside to get his money. With his cell buddy at his side, he struggles to keep his secret and hopes the world is still there tomorrow.

It is the late 1950s. Flourishing under the economic miracle, Germany grows increasingly apathetic about confronting the horrors of its recent past. Nevertheless, Fritz Bauer doggedly devotes his energies to bringing the Third Reich to justice. One day Bauer receives a letter from Argentina, written by a man who is certain that his daughter is dating the son of Adolph Eichmann. Excited by the promising lead, and mistrustful of a corrupt judiciary system where Nazis still lurk, Bauer journeys to Jerusalem to seek alliance with Mossad, the Israeli secret service. To do so is treason — yet committing treason is the only way Bauer can serve his country.

A historical analysis of how groups such as the Nazi’s may use language, symbols, and religious connotation in order to come to power. It raises questions that deserve in depth analysis and consideration. Questions include: Where do legends expand our thinking and where do they bury it? When does spiritual pursuit suddenly turn into fanaticism and violence? Last, have we as a society learned from our past, and if so have forgotten the lessons of the 20th Century? Are we now embarking on a new level only to learn the same old lessons about humanity again? In addressing these questions we are taken into the back drop of the history of Germany beginning in the late 1800’s through the late 20th Century at the eve of the 21st. “A society that does not take archetypes, myths, and symbols seriously will possibly be jumped by them from behind.”

Film is about the undercover assignment of a BKA officer as the bodyguard of a drug baron. His job is to gather information to put a stop to the cartel. But unfortunately everything goes wrong, "The Bodyguard" is exposed and eliminated in Turkey. He survives, returns and wants to complete his mission despite betrayal within his own ranks.

After being abandoned by their Nazi parents at the end of World War II, five German siblings embark on a harrowing journey across their war-torn country. Led by the eldest, 14 year-old Lore, the children are forced to confront their parents’ actions and the reality of a new world.

In the little town of Herzsprung - whose name harks back to an ancient legend of broken hearts - almost nothing has changed since German unification, except a rise in unemployment. Johanna, a young mother and widow, becomes one of the unemployed and lives on welfare. To make matters worse, she falls in love with a dark-skinned, roving adventurer and the whole village starts talking about it.

Comedian Harmonists tells the story of a famous, German male sextet, five vocals and piano, the "Comedian Harmonists", from the day they meet first in 1927 to the day in 1934, when they become banned by the upcoming Nazis, because three of them are Jewish.

Jan-Josef Geissler (Lars Eidinger) seems to have surprisingly found God. The man, once convicted of the murder of a young woman, presents himself as reformed and suddenly plans to study theology and become a priest, for which he seeks the support of the Church. The clergyman Ralf Remberg (Devid Striesow) is then tasked with verifying the sincerity of Geissler's motives to determine whether the incarcerated man is genuinely serious about the matter. However, the more Remberg delves into the case, the more he begins to question his own faith.

Welcome to 2020: The European Union has collapsed following the fourth Gulf War and massive barricades keep illegal immigrants out of cities that are barely functioning. In the middle of this highly volatile environment is the family of Walter Kuper, an energy conglomerate executive. Walter’s daughter, Cecilia, has joined the Black Storm terrorist group. Her sister Laura must choose between motherhood and the man she loves; their brother Philip has been called up to fight for Germany in a hopeless war to secure the last remaining oil fields. Starring leading actors Daniel Brühl, Johanna Wokalek and Jürgen Vogel, "The Days to Come" asks provocative questions about the current state of things as it depicts personal and political realities in a scarily believable near–future.

Maria has suffered from depression since the death of her child, and goes to live in a lonely house by the sea.

A mysterious magnetic spool found during a construction project is discovered to have originated from Venus. A rocket expedition to Venus is launched to discover the origin of the spool and the race that created it.

Daughter, mother and grandmother live together in a female household. Young Hannelore Pohl introduces her boyfriend Spletti to her grandmother, as her relationship with her mother does not seem suitable for such affairs. Grandma Wiedemann is also not averse to the janitor Wollenschläger's enthusiastic efforts. Only her overworked mother Gisela Pohl, head of a forestry business, is not open to such things. So Hannelore decides to look for a husband for her exhausted mother, as this is the only way to create a sensible atmosphere in the family. A newspaper advertisement leads to the manager Gisela Pohl and her best employee Bechstein.

In 2016, DEFA celebrates its 70th anniversary: the film embarks on a journey into the exciting film history of the GDR. In a comprehensive kaleidoscope, the importance of DEFA productions is illuminated, the relevance of the films as propaganda productions for the GDR, which socio-political themes were in the foreground, but also which heroes DEFA brought to the screen and celebrated as people from the people.