Generation '89 - Growing up in the year of change

Johanna sucht das Glück

October 2007 •English

Berlin Babylon

September 2001 •German

A documentary focusing on the rebuilding projects in Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

DDR 1990 - Reise durch ein verschwindendes Land

December 2017 •German

The Wall

November 1962 •English

Like the best USIA films, The Wall distills political events into an emotionally clear and compelling ideological "story". In 1962 Walter de Hoog gathered footage from U.S. and German newsreel sources and crafted this taut short film about the first year of the Berlin Wall. Straightforward, keenly balanced narration portrays Berliners as "accepting the wall but never resigned to it". The extraordinary footage of the first escapes was propaganda enough-- His challenge was to make the politics human.

Stasi, un État contre son peuple

October 2021 •French

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, thousands of documents were hastily shredded by the dreaded GDR political police. 16,000 bags filled with six million pieces of paper were found. Thanks to the meticulous work of technology, the destinies of men and women who had been spied on and recorded without their knowledge could be reconstructed.

Efter Muren - mellan taggtråd och kaos

October 1990 •Swedish

On 3 October 1990 DDR stopped existing as a state and became the Federal Republic of Germany. The past had been overturned. The new had not yet taken shape. The rejoicing over the fall of the Berlin wall. The bitterness and shame when the doors opened to cabinet of horrors at Stasi. Uncertainty and worry about the future. Everyone's battle against everyone for survival. In the form of a travelogue, freelancing journalist Rainer Hartleb depicts all the mixed feelings that flow from the country that no longer exists.

Dusk: 1950s East Berlin Bohemia

December 1993 •German

A documentary and film essay about the artist scene in East Berlin during the 1950s.

Countdown To 1990 : La Réunification de l'Allemagne

January 2020 •French

Comrade Couture

February 2009 •German

This film undertakes a journey into the amazing parallel universe of East Berlin’s fashion designers and experts in the art of survival. For, in the midst of the constraints of life in the GDR, there existed a fantasy world where it was possible to dance to another tune, be individual and even provocative. The most important characteristic of this bohemian scene was one’s per- sonal style. But this certainly wasn’t something that could be bought off the peg in the GDR. In this parallel universe it was up to you to create your own individual image – with your own hands. This film tells the story of the desires, the passion and the dreams that were tried and tested, lived and performed in the shadow of the Berlin Wall.

Schutzwall

January 1965 •German

The 5th anniversary of the inner-German wall to West Germany and West Berlin is on the agenda. The necessity of erecting the border is illustrated by comparing the situation in 1939 and the situation in the summer of 1961 with regard to the "threat of intervention" by the Western powers. Berlin people and GDR border guards are interviewed.

Wall of Chaos

December 2021 •Italian

Immer bereit

July 1950 •German

Documentary (in colour) about the first youth meeting (Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend) in East Berlin in 1950.

Berliner Ballade

November 1990 •French

Some months after the fall of the Berlin wall, during the time of federal elections in Germany in 1990, Chris Marker shot this passionate documentary, reflecting the state of the place and its spirit with remarkable acuity.

Das Ministerium für Staatssicherheit - Alltag einer Behörde

October 2002 •German

Cycling the Frame

August 1988 •English

In 1988, Tilda Swinton toured round the Berlin Wall on a bicycle - starting and ending at the Brandenburg Gate - accompanied by filmmaker Cynthia Beatt. As Swinton travels through fields and historic neighborhoods, past lakes and massive concrete apartment buildings, the Wall is a constant presence.

The Wall

October 1990 •German

A documentary about the deconstruction of the Berlin Wall which makes no use of vocal commentary but instead focuses on visual elements. From the Potsdamer Platz to the Brandenburg Gate, the camera captures the historic events from all sides and different angles: on the one hand there are news reporters and tourists from all over the world taking pictures, children selling pieces of the wall to passers-by, and people celebrating New Year's Eve, on the other we see abandoned subway stations and officials with blank looks on their faces.

Drawing the Line: A Portrait of Keith Haring

November 1989 •English

Short documentary about artist Keith Haring, detailing his involvement in the New York City graffiti subculture, his opening of the Pop Shop, and the social commentary present in his paintings and drawings.

Liberty Train – Bürger’s Long Journey

September 2014 •German

“Liberty Train – Bürger’s Long Journey” sheds light on the events of the PEACEFUL REVOLUTION of 1989 from different perspectives. It centres on the eyewitnesses who, together with thousands of other people who had fled East Germany, were in the garden of the West German Embassy in Prague on the evening of the 30 September 1989.

Rockin' the Wall

September 2014 •English

Rock and roll's part in bringing down the Berlin Wall and smashing the Iron Curtain is told from the perspective of rockers who played at the time, on both sides of the Wall, and from survivors of the communist regimes who recall the lifeline that rock music provided them.

Ocana, der Engel der in der Qual singt

April 1979 •German

Legendary drag performer Ocaña in performance with a cardboard Marilyn on the west side of the Berlin Wall.