In the Name of the Empress

Grump's life follows the same familiar routines: spring is here and the early potato harvest is ripening. But Grump crashes his beloved Ford Escort and the car has to be scrapped. A new, modern vehicle is no match for quality and the nearest Escort, a 1972 model, can be found in Germany. When the Grumps's sons refuse to help, he must travel to Germany alone.

When a skeptical journalist reluctantly participates in heartbreak therapy for an article, he ends up opening his heart to his charming therapist.

A communist kangaroo moves in with an artist in Berlin.

Sarah is loud, non-conform, rude, honest and provocative. She seems invincible, but she is lonely and lost. Struggling with her daily life.

The cabaret artist Marc-Uwe and the kangaroo are faced with a problem: Lisbeth, the mother of Maria has taken a wrong turn somewhere and is now denying the climate crisis on the Internet. How can she be brought to her senses? The two make a bet with each other: If they don't manage to bring Maria's mother to her senses, they will lose their apartment. So Marc-Uwe and the marsupial embark on a trip to the Conspiracy Convention in Bielefeld and shortly thereafter become part of a tangible conspiracy led by conspiracy guru Adam Krieger and his followers. As the two flatmates talk their heads off, it's no longer just about their apartment for Marc-Uwe and the kangaroo, it's more than that: it's a matter of life and death!

A murderous community of heirs is looking forward to big money too soon. After a long time, the Dargatz family meets again for the grandmother's funeral on her farm. Leo, the local priest, is entrusted with the regulation of family affairs and the opening of the will. What begins as a harmonious family gathering is slowly becoming a drama about hidden passion, greed and lust for murder. And the devout Leo must learn that not everything that is meant well ends well.

During the day, 18-year-old Elaha argues with her mother about cleaning up, at night she works at the club to move in with her friend Ina. She also uses her quick wit to answer endless questions about her origins.

The life of Jorg Geissner, a German banker, totally transforms with a visit to Paladiki Island, Greece. A business trip to check on a project called “Galapagos in Greece” by the islanders and for which his bank extended a loan and credit, brought him there. Being a German, he wants to investigate thoroughly, but Panos, a mini-mart owner, and the mayor try their utmost to sabotage him—to camouflage a not-so-good reality. After every single trial resulted in nothing because of the islanders’ secret meddling, Jorg’s trip becomes elongated, like The Odyssey’s, forcing him to contemplate the priorities and responsibilities in life again.

Isabell Suba, ambitious up-and-coming director, has made it – one of her short films is in the line-up of the most important film festival of the world! When she arrives at the 65. Cannes film festival, she has face the accomplished facts: David, her incompetent producer, has kindly sublet their cosy joint apartment to other festival guests. The other bad news: There is not a single movie in the competition directed by a woman! This affirms Isabell’s qualms: The film business demands women to gear up instead of dressing up low cut! Moreover, the chauvinistic remarks of her comrade-in-arms David who feels comfortable around the clichéd gender stereotypes from the Stone Age seemingly prevalent in Cannes infuriate Isabell. As if this wasn’t enough already, a shattering feedback on her new film project by a potential investor finally causes her to doubt herself. Before she can live her dream up at the Olympus of film business, she must first find out who really believes in her.

On a beautiful spring day, a small village full of eccentric characters wake up to hear Selma has had a premonition: she dreamt of a rare animal again – an okapi. All the village knows this means someone is about to die. Selma’s granddaughter, 11-year-old Luise, and her best friend Martin look on as fears of being the victim of the prophecy throw the village into a frenzy of confusion. But when the premonition comes true, it is young Luise’s world that is suddenly turned upside down. Ten years on from the event that changed her life, Luise lives a quiet life working in a bookstore, until the arrival of an unexpected guest enables her to rediscover how powerful and life-giving love can be.

Samuela despairs of her lack of breakthrough as an author. When she is abandoned by her boyfriend, she secretly travels with her brother to the family holiday home in Lanzarote, where she wants to work on her novel. But instead of the peace she hoped for, she finds her father there, who occupies the house after the divorce. When her mother also shows up, the chaos is perfect.

What's left for an actor who thinks he has done it all? Simon is convinced that he has played every possible character and no roles can challenge him anymore. He's grown bored of acting, but there is one thing that still gets him: The question of how to perfection the role of a dead person. Since no one has ever truly experienced that state and came back to tell the tale, it poses a difficult task. Simon's quest is to accomplish just that.

30 years ago, Switzerland was shaken by a scandal that seems to have already been forgotten: more than 900,000 people were surveilled because of their political convictions. Against the backdrop of this "secret files scandal," Micha Lewinsky sets his film. Conscientious policeman Viktor Schuler is tasked by his superior to infiltrate the Schauspielhaus, a renowned Zurich theatre, in order to keep an eye on its leftist scene. However, Viktor finds himself quite taken with the artist's life and falls in love with the subversive actress Odile Lehmann.

In the aftermath of WWII, German-Jewish cabaret singer Nelly has to undergo facial reconstructive surgery following her survival from Auschwitz. Without recognising Nelly, her former husband Johnny asks her to help him claim his wife’s inheritance. To see if he's betrayed her, she agrees, becoming her own doppelgänger.

After surviving a racist attack, state prosecutor Seyo Kim takes her own case to court – confronting both the perpetrators and a justice system that turns a blind eye to right-wing extremism.

A woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.

Even today, Mathias Kneißl (1875-1902) is considered a national hero in the collective memory of Bavaria. During his lifetime, he was the most wanted criminal in Bavaria and even Prince Regent Luitpold was reported daily on the hunt for the lawbreaker report. Again and again Kneißl's story has occupied the Bavarian artists: his life was retold in folk songs and murders, sung in ballads, filmed and treated in various plays. In his feature film version, the Bavarian filmmaker Marcus H. Rosenmüller relies on a rapid staging, opulent images and a moving love story.

Parvis, the son of exiled Iranians, copes with life in his small hometown by indulging himself with pop culture, Grindr dates, and raves. After being caught shoplifting, he is sentenced to community service at a refugee shelter where he meets siblings Banafshe and Amon, who have fled Iran. As a romantic attraction between Parvis and Amon grows, the fragile relationship between the three is put to a test.

Alsie is unhappy and alone, but luckily she can order the feeling of security and comfort in the internet nowadays. However, the evening with her rented Daddy does not go as smooth as she envisioned it. To really feel comforted she will have to open up and make herself vulnerable...

Bibi, the young witch from Neustadt, is excited: the big international witches' convention is taking place on the Blocksberg and she and her friends Schubia and Flauipaui are allowed to be there as volunteers. But just as the future of the young witches is at stake, events take a turn for the worst and complete chaos ensues! The old witches of Neustadt suddenly start behaving like unpredictable teenagers and the young witches have their hands full not only trying to bring order to the chaos they have caused...

Day after day, the feeding bowl is empty, but cat sitter Helen simply can’t find her mysterious client’s cat. Out of curiosity, she decides to spend the night in the apartment, leading to a surprising and tender encounter.

Actually, Bibi had imagined her school internship would be completely different. Because she missed the scheduled start date, she has to fill in as a museum attendant for two weeks instead. While her friend Marita is doing her internship with the police and Florian is working for the Neustädter Zeitung, it initially seems like Bibi is in for a rather boring time. That changes abruptly when an extremely valuable music box disappears from the museum...

Jasmin and Lee have been lovers for three years. When they decide to go on a hiatus in Lee’s mother’s home on the Austrian countryside, they are accompanied by their friend and documentary filmmaker Amira, who wants to capture queer love for her graduation film.

A weekend in the Bavarian Alps. 25-year-old Hannes meets his father after 8 years of separation in a little mountain hut. By the influence of their very different girlfriends Ann and Lavinia, the stage-director-father and his actor-son cautiously try to make a new start. A bold venture, leading all of them to an abyss of unforeseen cruelty.

He is considered the richest German, yet he is arguably the most mysterious billionaire: Dieter Schwarz. Most people are familiar with his Lidl discount stores, but he himself is regarded as a phantom. Who is behind the discount store empire? How did the corporate group come into being? What is legend, and what is truth? This documentary tells the story of Lidl, which holds a few surprises. A fascinating family portrait. While researching in archives, filmmakers Annebeth Jacobsen and Frank Diederichs came across previously unpublished documents that offer insights into the history of the corporate group and the lives of its family members.

Alma manages to obtain a job as a court painter with the bourgeois prince Philip, passionate about botany. When he sees a portrait of her sister, the beautiful Christine, he immediately falls in love. But the Baroness has plans for her own daughter. Fortunately the faithful Shaky is still here.

Marie races along the highway at 240 km/h. On this August night, she doesn't want to be anywhere else. She stops at a gas station for one last cigarette and one last Capri Sun. A quiet but final farewell. But suddenly Gerlinde is standing in front of her car, and two lost souls find each other. Together they make their way south to Albania, to the childhood home of Gerlinde's deceased partner Marieta. At rest stops, in hostels and at sunsets, they meet people who want to break free - and the dissimilar women begin to question their decisions and quietly dare to hope for a new beginning.

After discovering her abusive ex-stepfather is invited to her mother's 50th birthday party, Vanessa exposes his past atrocities with the help of a homemade videotape. Amidst the chaos of the family celebration, Vanessa and her estranged mother find an unexpected way to reconnect and ensure that justice is served for Vanessa's ex-stepfather.

After taking several years off to have children, nurse Clara Horn returns to work and begins to feel the effects of the much tougher daily routine at the clinic - pressure, stress and tension are the order of the day. But she soon realizes that there is much more going on in her clinic: Apparently, one of her colleagues is deliberately killing patients. Clara must overcome not only her own doubts, but also massive resistance among her colleagues in order to convict the perpetrator, Rico Weber.

Two mysterious deaths, rivalries within the Husum police team and a mysterious marine biologist who is both a witness and a suspect - Marlene Tanczik, alias Inspector Ria Larsen, faces a number of challenges in the third crime thriller in the series.

A solar system in which the end of history has already been surpassed: people allow themselves to be ruled by computer reason – ActualSanity – which keeps the community of planets in an harmonious ideal state. Political processes no longer seem to be necessary in this AI-driven, totalitarian and cosy government; instead, identity-forming collectives distinguish themselves from each other solely by subtle behavioural differences. Until a threat looms on the horizon: the Broken Hearts Collective disquiets the solar system with terrorist attacks – a development at the centre of which Marten Eliot and Emma Glendale, young head fellows of the Dolphin Collective, unexpectedly find themselves.