Baltic Sea for Pigheaded People

Grill Point

February 2002 •German

In the style of a documentary this tragic comedy tells the story of a relationship crisis between two married couples and their longing to break out of their miserable daily lives. In this East German post-wall movie Andreas Dresen introduces the sad everyday life of two couples from Frankfurt an der Oder in a honest and tolerable manner.

Hot Summer

June 1968 •German

In this East German teen musical, a group of girls are planning to take their summer vacation together on the Baltic coast. When a loud and obnoxious group of boys intrudes on their holiday, the girls are horrified to learn that the boys have the same vacations plans as them. The two groups quarrel with each other and compete over a number of things, but gradually an attraction starts to form.

No More Mr. Nice Guy

April 1993 •German

Die Brüder Kipp (Joachim Król) und Most (Horst Krause) machen sich auf den Weg, um das Gut ihrer Oma zu erben. Auf diesem Weg begegnen sie Viktor (Konstantin Kotljarov), einem desertierten russischen Soldaten, der die beiden kidnappt und Nadine (Sophie Rois), die sich ihnen freiwillig anschließt. Zwischendurch gibt es noch einen Zusammenstoß mit Straßenrowdies, was diesen allerdings nicht gerade gut bekommt. Auf ihrem Weg zum Erbe (oder was davon übrig bleibt) geraten die Protagonisten in manche scheinbar ausweglose Situation.

Schulz & Schulz

December 1989 •German

Verwirrung der Liebe

October 1959 •German

The film tells the love story of two young couples. According to their social ranks, construction worker Edy is dating employee Siegi, while medical student Dieter is dating art school student Sonja. Rather unintentionally, they exchange partners. During a carnival ball, Dieter makes out with Siegi because he falls for her her fresh and happy girlish manner. Sonja coolly observes this game and sees this intermezzo as a test for their relationship. While Siegi and Dieter vacation at the sea, Sonja falls in love with Edy. Now the die seems to be cast for new constellations. But when both couples stand in front of the registrar’s office, they finally come to their senses.

Afire

April 2023 •German

Self-important author Leon joins his best friend on a summer holiday near the Baltic Sea to complete his novel. When they arrive, they find their house is already occupied by a carefree woman who challenges Leon to open up. Meanwhile, forest wildfires rage around them and impending disaster looms.

Effi Briest

June 1974 •German

When 17-year-old Effi Briest marries the elderly Baron von Instetten, she moves to a small, isolated Baltic town and a house that she fears is haunted. Starved for companionship, Effi begins a friendship with Major Crampas, a charismatic womanizer.

Summer '04

October 2006 •German

Sommer ’04 is a character study of a family on vacation. German director Stefan Krohmer examines the emotional abyss and problems behind the seemingly nice facade of an intact family as they experience guilt, love and jealousy.

Go Trabi Go 2: Those Were the Days of the Wild East

August 1992 •German

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.

Vergiss Amerika

November 2000 •English

Driving Me Crazy

May 1991 •English

An eccentric East German inventor and defector travels to Los Angeles, California to sell a prototype revolutionary new car that runs on vegetables and produces no pollution, but he runs into one madcap situation after another to find a buyer and financier for mass production.

Eastern Cross

July 1991 •German

OSTKREUZ tells the episodic story of 15-year-old Elfie, who literally and metaphorically inhabits a no-man’s-land between the two Germanies shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The film deploys a neorealist aesthetic to reinforce the difficulties confronting the girl, and by inference, Germany.

Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution

September 2007 •English

Based on a true story, Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution is the tale of a family from Bingley in Yorkshire, who defect to East Germany. Here they find a nightmare of rationing, censorship and the most spied upon people in history rather than the Marxist utopia they were expecting. But if they thought getting in was difficult wait until they try to get out.

Jerichow

January 2009 •German

In a small town in Northern Germany, a penniless German veteran is offered a job as a deliveryman by an alcoholic Turkish entrepreneur, through which the former meets the latter's wife.

Ete and Ali

May 1985 •German

Ete and Ali are discharged from the army. Since Ete knows that his wife is having an affair, he doesn't want to go home. Ali tries to persuade his friend to stand up for himself and to kick the other man out. But since Ete obviously lacks courage, Ali himself goes into action and gets rid of the rival lover. At first, Mary and Ete seem to reconcile, but repairing their marriage won't work.

Into the Wind

February 2022 •Polish

She graduated from a prestigious high school in Warsaw and entered medicine in London. He works as a kitesurfing instructor at the seaside, thanks to which he combines earning money and passion. They will meet in Hel. The unusual charm of the boy makes the girl exceed her limits and enter a completely unknown world of kitesurfing, music and fun. The feeling that arises between them does not please her family or his friends. Is Ania and Michal's relationship strong enough to overcome adversities and become more than just a holiday love?

Sassnitz vs. Trump: The Dispute Over Nord Stream 2

November 2020 •German

Sassnitz is a small coastal town at the Baltic Sea on the Island of Rügen. In its vicinity are the world-famous chalk cliffs, a tourist magnet. The Mukran Port is also part of the municipality. The overseas port is the starting point for the construction of Nord Stream 2, a natural gas pipeline that connects Germany directly with Russia. In 2020, the port town hit the international headlines. Even the New York Times reported and cited Mayor Frank Kracht as a staunch opponent from the northeast German province against the rumbling America of Donald Trump. The reason is the undisguised threat from Washington to ruin the international port economically if the natural gas pipeline continues to be built from there. Many jobs and the region's economic stability are at risk. Reporter Klaus Scherer documents the case, questions experts as well as those affected and looks at the behavior of national politicians towards the USA and how they react to the interference in internal affairs.

The Glory of Life

March 2024 •German

Because of the power of love, the last year of Franz Kafka's life becomes his happiest. The well-known writer has never before been able to allow himself to experience intimacy, he suffers from tuberculosis and is dependent on his overbearing family. In the summer of 1923, he met Dora Diamant in the seaside resort Graal-Müritz on the Baltic Sea coast, where he is convalescing and she is working in a Jewish Volksheim. He is a man of world, the 14 years younger woman is from the deep East, he can write, she can dance. She has both feet firmly on the ground, he is always hovering a little above it. She embraces the indicative, he gets tangled up in the conjunctive. But the worldly wise Dora accepts him as he is. And he accepts her. Together they go to Berlin and when Franz's health deteriorates rapidly, to a sanatorium in Austria. They are granted a single year together until Franz Kafka's health deteriorates incurable. However their year together allows them to feel the glory of life.

Plantagenstraße 19

May 1979 •German

Ballade vom roten Mohn

September 1965 •German