DEFA

In the ruins of post-WWII Berlin, a twelve-year-old boy is left to his own devices in order to help provide for his family.

Dr. Blum, a Jewish manufacturer, is falsely accused of a murder. Even when the real killer’s identity becomes evident, the state prosecutor refuses to accept Blum’s innocence.

Boys are usually busy playing "Indians", but when their uncle decides to rent part of their home to a Doctor Höflin, they took an oath to cast him out with a series of pranks.

After returning from a concentration camp, Susanne finds a traumatized ex-soldier living in her apartment in bombed out Berlin. Together the two try to move past their experiences during WWII.

When a significant quantity of valuable gemstones is to be transported to South America by plane, those responsible are naturally extremely nervous. Everything must be perfectly planned, every possible risk averted.

French teacher Annette Müller has two ardent admirers who are constantly urging her to marry: diplomat Klaus and engineer Theo. But she can't make up her mind. Then a third one joins them, the pianist Hans. Sometimes she dreams of Klaus, sometimes of Theo. And although she is angry that Hans has taken up residence in her boarding house, she can't stop herself from dreaming about him too. When she asks him, of all people, which of the other two she should marry, there is a big row between them - and she realizes who the right man is.

In 1948, students from Berlin University take part in the filming of a movie about the 1848 revolution as extras. A dispute arises between Else and Heinz, who tends to dismiss the revolution as a comical affair. Two fiercely opposing camps form at the university. But Heinz begins to reflect, and reading about a young student who lost his life in the turbulent days a hundred years earlier slowly changes his attitude. The conclusion of the filming at the Wartburg also reunites him with Else.

The young actress Bettina has angered the director of a West Berlin camp for troubled youth with a song that celebrates the adventurous lives of these "wayward youths." Hein Denecke invites her to get to know the real lives of these young people.

A chemist and his assistant make a groundbreaking discovery. They manage to make butter directly from pasture grass without having to deal with either the cow or the use of dairy products. An industrialist attempts to seize the invention.

This is the directorial debut of Artur Pohl and tells the story of war refugees as they try to settle in a small town in Germany.

A decent small-town citizen named Fridolin Biedermann travels to Berlin and wants to finally experience something. And he succeeds. First he falls into the hands of a couple of crooks who rip him off terribly, and - back home - the law...

After World War II, scores of refugees leave in search of a new home. They now stand in the hall of a large mansion, waiting to receive their deeds of ownership for sections of land that the lord of the manor had left behind after he fled. Among them is young Jeruscheit who, during her travels, had to bury one of her own children. Her husband has been declared missing, and up until now she has had little purpose in life. But then she discovers it: to work, to build, and to help others. And maybe someday Jeruscheit will find her family.

The mechanic Behnke wants to join the Nazi party to secure a good living. However, after his Jewish neighbors have been taken away, he changes his views. Trying to remain "a non-political man," he withdraws from reality and becomes a Nazis laborer.

While on leave in Berlin during the Second World War, a soldier named Hans meets a young woman named Monika. They fall in love and make plans for a future together after the war. Yet their later attempts to find an apartment and get married are hindered by the housing shortage and they have to stay separately with relatives.

Berlin, shortly after World War II. Five parentless siblings, led by the oldest sister Inge Kuckert, search for a place to stay and a basis of existence in the destroyed city. A bombed villa in the Grunewald seems to be the right "cuckoo's nest", but an alleged authorised disposal tries to drive the siblings out of the building. Fortunately, the friendly neighbor can help.

A moving saga focusing on the women in a family that spans three generations and almost 70 years of German history, from the Wilhelmine period through the end of WWII. This film shows that it takes a combination of hard work, political consciousness and family work in tandem to face the tragedies of war, economic hardship and death.

Documentary about nazi concentration camp Sachsenhausen.

The film centres around the young woman Erika, desperately seeking for love and escape from the depression of the times, drifting, and in the end becoming involved with a circle of rich people who sell goods for sexual favours.

Documenting the rebuilding of Potsdam one year after the war under Soviet supervision.

Post-war Germany 1945: Two rival gangs of uprooted boys fight each other in the ruins of Berlin, whose business is the black market out of necessity in order to survive. Their respective leaders are Gerhard and Dietrich. A pretty young circus artist named Corona comes to the destroyed city with a traveling circus. She immediately caught the boys' attention. When the latter notice that the circus director is abusing the girl, the two gangs join forces and plot an act of revenge against the tyrant. But with the hustle and bustle caused by this, Corona falls from the trapeze and is seriously injured. When the circus moves on, the boys organize a doctor for the sick artist who has been left behind. Their collectively concern for the blonde beauty makes them forget their enmity. This welds the troops closer together and sets the course for a common, meaningful future.