ARD Kultur

A documentary about Roland Emmerich, the most commercially successful German director in Hollywood, released on the occasion of his 70th birthday. It offers rare insights into his professional career and private life, covering his rise as a blockbuster filmmaker, his personal relationships, family background, and life in the US and Europe. The film also looks back at his early work, including his 1984 directorial debut The Noah’s Ark Principle, and reflects on themes such as dreams, identity, politics, and the rules of the film industry.

Fynn Kliemann was one of Germany's most successful YouTubers, generating millions of clicks with DIY home improvement videos, topping the music charts and designing clothes. Then an exposé video by TV presenter Jan Böhmermann not only destroyed the influencer's credibility, but also his career. Kliemann withdrew from the scene.

The small village of Jamel in the northwest of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is considered a right-wing extremist stronghold. In the past, neo-Nazis have deliberately moved here. Using right-wing slogans and symbols, they openly claim dominance over the village. In the middle of it all: the artist couple Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer. In search of a rural idyll, the Lohmeyers moved to the village in 2004, underestimating the situation there, where they encountered right-wing extremist thinking and rejection, even threats. Instead of allowing themselves to be driven away, they make a statement against it every year with the "Jamel Rocks the Forester" music festival. After their barn was set on fire, they and their festival received prominent support from the German music scene. The documentary shows that the conditions in the village are not an isolated case and that folkish landgrabs by right-wing extremists are a widespread problem, but also how music can help fight for democracy.

This story sounds too crazy to be true, and yet it is. For three years, Berlin film students Julius and Moritz poured their hearts into their animated short Butty, hoping it would launch their careers. But when a festival disqualifies their film, they make a shocking discovery: Butty is already circulating online under the name of an American filmmaker. As they dig deeper, they uncover the unbelievable rise of a mysterious “Mr. F.”, a man hailed as the next Walt Disney who built his success on a stolen film and a web of lies.

A mysterious new wave song, recorded from the radio onto a cassette in the 1980s, became the internet's biggest musical mystery decades later. Millions of users worldwide are searching for the origin of the recording and the unknown band behind the "Most Mysterious Song on the Internet."

The documentary takes a look behind the scenes of child and youth acting with Nick Romeo Reimann, Luna Jordan, and Constantin von Jascheroff. These former child actors talk about growing up in front of millions of viewers. Perhaps the most successful time of their lives has also left its mark. Fame and success on the one hand, bullying and pressure to perform on the other. And always the question: What's next? Will I be able to build on my past successes? A coming-of-age film about closeness, distance, and growing up in an extraordinary world.