SWR

Anna is 60 and her acting heyday is now behind her. She lives on her own but has a friend and confidant in her downstairs neighbour Michel, who is also single. Reluctantly, Anna accepts a job as a language coach for 17-year-old Adrian who has a speech impediment and is something of a misfit. She recognises him as the boy who recently snatched her handbag in the street.

Utilizing potent TV interviews and many forgotten performances from his 30-year career, we are immersed into Frank Zappa’s world while experiencing two distinct facets of his complex character. At once Zappa was both a charismatic composer who reveled in the joy of performing and, in the next moment, a fiercely intelligent and brutally honest interviewee whose convictions only got stronger as his career ascended.

Nine-year-old Max moves to Geroldseck Castle, together with his mother, who takes up a position as a geriatric nurse there. Apparently a shrewd thief is up to mischief here. His mother is suspected, she is threatened with dismissal. Therefore, together with the three residents of the old people's home at table no. 7, Max does everything possible to convict the real perpetrator.

Max can hardly believe his luck: In a retirement home, he has finally found a gang that will let him join! Admittedly, it's the oldest and most wrinkly gang in the world - but that doesn't matter. He's found the best friends a 10-year-old could wish for in the elderly Vera, Horst and Kilian. Especially when, like Max, you're bullied in your new class and need help. But the gang's attempt to improve his school situation backfires. Horst, a former Bundesliga soccer coach, challenges Max's over-ambitious gym teacher Stöhle to a soccer duel: the school team including Laura and Ole against a selection of old geezers plus Max! And then the castle is haunted and a new case begins...

Rabbit Max, a juvenile shoplifter, gets trapped in an old-fashioned school. With rabbit girl Emmy, he acquires Easter Rabbits' secret skills, battles a sneaky fox family and learns about friendship.

Germany in the early 19th century. "Die Vermessung der Welt" follows the two brilliant and eccentric scientists Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Friedrich Gauss on their life paths.

Luisa, a 20-year-old law student, joins a cell of the Antifa group when she and her friends Alfa and Lenor get to know about an upcoming attack planned by a local neo-Nazi gang. As they try to find out more, the three youngsters delve deeper into the scene linked to right-wing movements and their political connections, to the point where they will understand how much they are willing to go further, in order to defend their own beliefs.

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli – a name that provokes almost a sense of awe and intimidation, even among his pianoplaying peers. It is a name that represents the highest degree of perfection, a quest for beauty that surpasses that of any other piano virtuoso. However Michelangeli also had a reputation for cancelling concerts at short notice and was consequently portrayed in the media as a somewhat neurotic artist. This documentary is the result of a 30-year search that has resulted in unusual interviews with those who knew him, and has also uncovered a wealth of new archive material: We get to experience Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli as he has never been seen before – and more importantly, as he has never been heard before. We also witness the maestro’s struggle back to his former perfection after suffering a devastating heart attack.

A married self-employed carpenter on the verge of ruin raids the bank that did not extend his credit.

The early films of Wim Wenders are now regarded as landmarks of European film. Alice in the Cities, Wrong Move and Kings of the Road became foundations of the German New Wave and cemented the reputation of their director. In One Who Set Forth: Wim Wenders' Early Years Marcel Wehn explores the background to these films. Through personal recollection and rare home movie footage, it documents the director's early life, from experiments with his first camera, via his deviation from a career in medicine in favour of art and film, through to international recognition for the Road Trilogy. Central to these were themes that became cornerstones of all his work: national identity, the importance of personal relationships and the allure of the road. With contributions from the director and the many collaborators who helped define his vision, One Who Set Forth is a compelling account of Wim Wenders' life and work.

Inge and Ludwig are full-time farmers in the Black Forest, with dairy cows and a dairy. Everything organic, all the highest quality. Despite the hard work, it is a fulfilling life. Would not it be the financial situation. As much as the two work, the debts devour them, the farm is endangered. Inge decides to look for a part-time job. When the opportunity arises to start with an escort service, she gets involved. And the plan works. But the relationship is put to the test when one of Inge's clients falls in love with her and the situation escalates.

In the 19th century, Baden-Baden was the summer capital of Europe. The city is particularly attractive to Russians. With Dostoyevsky and Turgenev come two authors who share a deep dislike for each other: Turgenev loves the West; Dostoyevsky hates him. He is passionate about playing roulette, a game that is banned in his homeland...

A detailed reconstruction of the events from Nov. 9th to 11th, 1989, which led to the Berlin wall tumbling down, on a local, national and international level.

Documentary examines the extraordinary success of the Edgar Wallace series in Germany: the British writer who provided the inspiration for the films was actually out of fashion worldwide in the 1950s - too old-fashioned, too dignified, too boring. Only in Germany was it different, because there was a need to catch up after the end of the Second World War. The National Socialists had banned crime thrillers in general and Edgar Wallace in particular. With a few exceptions, the Edgar Wallace films were therefore the first since the expressionist films...

Ukrainian Marija works in Germany as a 24-hour carer to support her family back home. Here she looks after Curt, who suffers from dementia, around the clock. When Curt's controlling daughter stays away due to an accident, Curt begins to think Marija is his deceased wife. In order to have her peace of mind, Marija plays along with the game and she realizes that this makes Curt feel better. But there is also Curt's son, who is more interested in Marija than in Curt.

There are two brothers who couldn't be more different. One, Anno Wilhelm, loves life and seeks to savor it in every way; the other, Julian, would like nothing better than to die. He has already made several suicide attempts, been hospitalized and suffered breakdowns. The men, in their late 20s, both grew up without a mother and have a difficult relationship with their father.

In August 1962, director Leslie Woodhead made a two-minute film in Liverpool's Cavern Club with a raw and unrecorded group of rockers called the Beatles. He arranged their first live TV appearances on a local show in Manchester and watched as the Fab Four phenomenon swept the world. Twenty-five years later while making films in Russia, Woodhead became aware of how, even though they were never able to play in the Soviet Union, the Beatles' legend had soaked into the lives of a generation of kids. This film meets the Soviet Beatles generation and hears their stories about how the Fab Four changed their lives, including Putin's deputy premier Sergei Ivanov, who explains how the Beatles helped him learn English and showed him another life. (Storyville)

a-ha and Simple Minds in Concert

Fun-loving Miri is a genius with numbers. She puts this talent to good use in her job at the town bank in the small village of Hattenstein, where she actively helps her often overburdened boss. When a local winegrower is found dead in a wooded area, she also develops a penchant for detective work. The policeman Nils, one of her old schoolmates, believes it was a sudden heart attack. But Miri's extraordinary powers of deduction tell her that there is something fishy about the case. With the moral support of her ownerless dachshund, Frauchen, she uncovers a large-scale crime in which even the mayor of the town seems to be involved.

The idyll in tranquil Monreal is deceptive: farmer Jobst lies dead in his cesspit, all the clues point to murder. A case for police superintendent Kati Biver and chief inspector Killmer. The latter, however, is rather distracted. The cool cop is suddenly supposed to be responsible for a baby - his baby! Not with him, Killmer thinks, and comes up with an ingenious idea to solve the care issue. He secretly abandons little Marlon outside the police station. Now his colleague Kati has no choice but to look after the little one...