The Punch to the Jaw

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), five International Brigade soldiers of different nationalities are given a crucial assignment as their commander lies dying: they are to smuggle top-secret information across enemy lines.

At the beginning of the 1960s, a German turns up on behalf of the NATO in the British village of Rocksmouth. NATO wants to establish a naval base in Rocksmouth, but first, the German envoy has to salvage an old ship wreck. In 1942, the "Princess of India" was supposed to bring children to safety in Canada but was sunk by a German submarine at departure. 58 people were killed, most of them children.

On August 13th, 1961 - the night that the Berlin Wall goes up - three people must make a decision that will change their lives forever.

Ev and Peter fall in love at first sight. Peter studies dentistry in Leipzig and is eager to work in the country. There is an unfilled dentist vacancy in his home village. Ev, on the other hand, is drawn to the city. Being a commercial artist, she sees no chance to find a job in the country. This conflict becomes the first real test for their relationship.

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.

Trude and Willi Lorenz have had an exemplary marriage for 24 years. Their daughter Gitta takes them as a role model for herself and her fiancé Peter. But appearances are deceptive. Willi cheats on his wife with the young secretary Helga. He is a department manager in a heavy engineering company and travels a lot on business. Trude also has a busy working day as a divorce judge. Obviously, family life has been neglected as a result, and now Trude herself is facing a problem that is very familiar to her from her job. An alderwoman has drawn her attention to her husband's infidelity, and a visit from Helga, who demands that she give up her husband, forces her to make a decision. Willi Lorenz has cheated on both women. In a discussion, he finally confesses to Trude and their life together. The fact that it doesn't come to the "Lorenz divorce case" is also thanks to the sincere, compassionate driver Schliffke, who tactfully opens the eyes of his boss Lorenz and the young Helga.

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

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.

The story of the steel melter Martin Hoff, whose factory delegates him to a drama school, corresponds to the real life of the actor Manfred Krug. Like his (film) hero, Krug works as a steel melter, does artwork, sings and acts, and is sent to drama school. Like his hero, who behaves anarchically and conspicuously, Krug is soon expelled from school.

Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and Gilbert Wolzow, are pulled out of school and into Hitler's army. Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier; but at the front, Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war.

Kemmel, a sculptor with a troubled nature, wonders, as he approaches his fortieth birthday, whether he has created any truly significant work.

Paul Pospischiel loses his job in the great colliery collapse in the Ruhr, retrains and builds a new life for himself. One day, he receives a letter from his mother, which tears him from his comfort zone and triggers a serious conflict. She has discovered the man who sent his father to a concentration camp decades ago and is therefore responsible for his death. The mother demands accountability from this man. Paul decides to confront the suspected informer and murderer...

Fritz Schmenkel, a farm worker and soldier in the fascist Wehrmacht, deserts in Belarus in 1941. He wants to survive, makes his way to Russian farmers and comes into contact with Soviet partisans who, after long interrogations by the German teacher and current partisan Miron, take him in as one of their own. Schmenkel proves his reliability in a number of daring actions and is awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In the winter of 1943/44, he is given a reconnaissance mission and falls into the hands of the fascists in Minsk. After days of interrogation, which he withstands, the Nazis execute him.

In the 16th century, as Flanders is invaded by the Spanish, Till the Mischievous uses stratagems to enter the service of Ferdinand Alvare de Toledo, Duke of Alba, and from there organize resistance against the invaders.

Karin, who is in her mid-thirties, works as registrar but has been divorced for several years. Together with her 16-year old daughter Nora, she leads a happy and independent life. Then, she finds a new partner in the mathematician Peter, but does not tell her daughter about him. When Peter proposes marriage, Karin always comes up with new excuses why such a step is still too early for her. She mainly fears that Nora would not be able to cope with another marriage of her mother. But when Peter cannot be dissuaded anymore by her excuses and finally wants to marry her, Karin comes up with a bizarre plan.

At the end of the 1950s, the production of optics in the German Democratic Republic has reached top quality and instigates interest in the West. When national demand rises strongly and at the same time the export to South America heavily decreases, the Volkspolizei - the GDR police force - starts to look into the case. Two seemingly unrelated cases are the starting point for the investigation by second lieutenant Schellenberg of the department for optics racketeering: An old woman who was arrested in the Berlin city railway for trying to smuggle a pair of binoculars to West Berlin, and a dead person in an area of allotments who was involved in obscure dealings with optical devices.

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.

The plot is based on the dramatic fate of the Red Army commander Aleksei Ivanovich Pavlov. Having been captured in January 1942 and being among the displaced persons, he didn't immediately decide to return to the USSR. Having rolled around the foreign country for 17 years, Aleksei nevertheless returned to his homeland. He goes to his brother in the south of the country to Sevastopol. Aleksei accidentally meets the doctor Anna Andreyevna, who was saved from death in besieged Leningrad. She travels by car from Moscow and also to the south, with her daughter Tanya; she suggests he join them. Aleksei tells about his life on the road.

During construction work in a small town in Thuringia, the burial of an unidentified man in an SS uniform with gunshot wounds is discovered. Taking into account that there were no military operations in this place and an ancient gold coin was found near the body, two police inspectors, Captain Stetter and Lieutenant Hoffmann, arrive to investigate the unusual incident. Soon they manage to get on the trail of a mysterious crime that took place twenty years ago, but it is cut short with the murder of the owner of the plot of land where the corpse was found. Realizing that the new crime is closely connected to the death of an unknown SS man, the police search for clues in the memories of old residents and archival documents.

Dr. Grunert, electronics specialist from the GDR, gets a visit from an old acquaintance from war times. Both worked back then on navy torpedoes. His former colleague wants to poach Grunert – to Schenectady, the headquarters of the largest American electronics company. With alleged war crimes, he tries to blackmail Grunert, but quickly it becomes clear where the true criminals are sitting: In influential positions of the American industry. Grunert underestimates the scrupulousness of his opponent and invites him to a remotely located country home to clarify things. The Ministry for State Security is already on the trail of the matter and saves the engineer from a dangerous solo action.

Adam receives a flashlight with special powers: every liar it shines on flies into the air. Production was cancelled in 1965/66 due to the film's political content. Only in 1989/90 could the director reconstruct the film, where missing sounds and images are replaced with script inserts.

Berlin in the 1960s. Olaf and Horst are two young metalworkers, who provoke their older colleagues with critiques of the antiquated equipment and lack of materials... not to mention their love of leather jackets and motorbikes. Olaf and Horst begin to be targeted in the house newsletter, and the generational conflict escalates.

Stationed in a secluded Bulgarian village in 1943, Walter – a German Wehrmacht sergeant and artist – lives in almost idyllic distance from the war. Then a transit camp is set up for Jews arriving from Greece. When Ruth, one of the internees, asks Walter to help a pregnant woman, the two form an unlikely bond.

This film takes place during the Seven Years' War. The Prussian Major von Tellheim has become engaged to the Saxon noblewoman Minna von Barnhelm. After the war, the King - in an unwarranted move - deprives the major of his honor. Von Tellheim becomes impoverished and, filled with shame, breaks off his relationship to Minna. An innkeeper in Berlin, who is a police informer, makes the Major move to a shabby little attic because he cannot pay his debt. In the meantime, Minna has also arrived at the inn. She and her lady's maid Franziska are questioned and spied on by the nosy innkeeper. Minna has followed her beloved Tellheim and she now cunningly manages to elicit a new declaration of love from him...

Florida, 1830 - Of all eastern Native American tribes, only the Seminoles have resisted being moved to reservations. Having retreated to Florida, they live a simple horticultural life. But white plantation owners, angry at the increasing numbers of black slaves fleeing to Seminole protection, want to take their land. Plantation owner Raynes, in particular, has convinced the military to wipe out the Seminoles. His rival Moore, a sawmill owner from the North who has a Seminole wife, is against slavery and considers it unprofitable. Chief Osceola sees the coming danger; he tries to avoid provoking the whites, but cannot prevent the war that breaks out in 1835.

A murder has been committed in "Pension Boulanka", a famous guesthouse for artists and circus people. Captain Bruckner is heading the investigating team.

Documentary film about the Spanish Civil War.

A young boy Jampoll is spending the summer in his grandfather village where he fights criminals using his friends help.

A fairy-tale about a beautiful but very haughty princess Anna who cruelly mocks each of her suitors. Finally she is forced by the king to marry a beggar. The poor life, hard work and love teach the princess a lesson and turn her into a loving and kind person.

Chingachgook, a Mohawk-born Delaware warrior, strives to rescue his wife Wahtawah from the clutches of an enemy camp of Huron. Joined by his trusted huntsman Deerslayer, the two confront racist pioneers and brutal British soldiers in their quest. Deerslayer catches the desire of Judith and thus the jealousy of her suitor, Harry. The action of the story functions like a seesaw, characters continuously traveling back and forth between a house on the lake and the Huron camp until the violent climax.

The year is 1940 and Nazi Germany is at the height of its military prowess, having captured most of Europe and eyeing the Soviet Union to the East. The Russian military command suspects hostile intent from Germany and so arranges for its spies to infiltrate ranks of the German military and the SS. Alexander Belov is a Russian spy, who travels from Soviet-held Latvia to Nazi Germany under an alias of Johann Weiss. His mastery of the German language, steel nerves and an ability to manipulate others help him to use his connections in the SS to ascend the ladder of the German intelligence. He uses his position to identify sympathetic Germans, who help him to procure vital intelligence, and to help local resistance movements in their collective fight against Nazism.

A feuilletonistic conversation with the movie audience about the question: How do you feel about going to the movies? In general - and especially in summer? What do people expect from movies these days and what criticism do they have on their minds? The interviewees are vacationers of all ages and tastes. The occasion and background for this not entirely serious survey is the 1965 Summer Film Festival, which is captured in a cheerful reportage style. Interviews with actors on the festive opening evening and climax of the film confirm that there is only a relative cinema fatigue. It depends on the quality of the film on offer.

The group council leader of 7b, Punkt, has a hard time because General sets the tone in the class - with stupid pranks. The new kid, Küßchen, is quite different. He likes tinkering and has his own field telephone. General and his gang want to get one over on him and build a pitfall, but it's not Küßchen who falls in, but a lieutenant from the NVA. He breaks his arm and Küßchen visits him in hospital. Betrayal, the others think. But the two become friends and the lieutenant helps the children build an amateur radio station. The general who joins them is interested. He entices Küßchen to use the radio illegally, which brings the police onto the scene. And now the general shows that he is a decent guy after all.