Beetz Brothers Film Production

The story of how Aurora Mardiganian (1901-94), a survivor of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire (1915-17), became a Hollywood silent film star.

Startups are using AI to create avatars that allow relatives to talk with their loved ones after they have died. An exploration of a profound human desire and the consequences of turning the dream of immortality into a product.

Following the October 7th massacre and allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the kidnappings, the agency made headlines around the world. Israel enacted legislation to suspend cooperation with UNRWA, despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The film presents a historical examination of UNRWA’s role—a temporary agency, initially mandated to resolve the refugee crisis following the 1948 war, which has never ceased its operations and, after 75 years, continues to perpetuate generations of refugees

The story of Project Cassandra is one of the most important investigative reports in recent years. Published in 2017 on Politico, it reveals the eight-year-long, six-continent operation led by the DEA, targeting drug trafficking and money laundering that financed Hezbollah and Iran‘s terrorist and war activities. Incidentally, the US ad- ministration defanged the project as negotiations started with Iran on the nuclear agreement until reaching an agreement in 2015. Was the most extensive law-enforcement narco-terror operation in a decade compromised to pave the way for the sake of the nuclear deal with Iran? With exclusive archives and interviewees the film ta- kes us behind-the-scene of Project Cassandra and questions the price paid when political interests prevail over the rule of law. In a cosmic coincidence, this important and insightful documentary is due to be released, as the same time, world-leaders are grappling with the geo-political reprecussions of a renewed deal with Iran.

When Gaia the bear kills Andrea Papi in Trentino, Italy, the region’s inhabitants sound the alarm: could the tragedy have been avoided? Gaia is one of several problem children from a “troublesome bear family.” Her brother Bruno achieved questionable fame in Germany and met his death there. Can humans and bears coexist at all in the densely populated Alpine region?

The bleakness of Antarctica is a fallacy. The ice continent is full of life and offers a biodiversity of which only about two percent are known. Much of it is under water and could determine the future of human beings. When the northern lights cover the ice landscape in summer, the animals in the Antarctic are in a paradisiacal state. Whales blow their fountains in the sky, penguins fly like small rockets into the water, seals dive for crabs under the glittering ice floes. From the bay of the Ross Sea to the ice shelf, from the huge penguin colonies to steaming volcanoes, a life in rhythm with the ice. But the consequences of climate change are slowly becoming apparent here too. While some species are dying, others are spreading. They could bring new viruses and bacteria with them, and new dangers for humans too. The structure of nature has gotten off course. How many generations will still be able to experience the magic of Antarctica?

The Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, has been almost completely sealed off to the media. Now, for the first time, dozens of its former operatives have agreed to be interviewed. These rare interviews bring to light personal and political dilemmas and challenges, and form an account of the top-secret operations that have shaped Israel’s past and may yet shape its future.

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.

A deep dive into the hidden industry of digital cleaning, which rids the Internet of unwanted violence, porn and political content.

In August 2022, a young woman is found brutally stabbed to death in her car in Ingolstadt. Then events come thick and fast. The supposed victim is alive, and the victim looks exactly like her, like a doppelganger. Selected and lured via Instagram ...

April 1945. In a dramatic operation the SS transports 139 special prisoners, and kin of the prisoners, into the Alps. The plan: to use the prisoners as bargaining chips in possible negotiations with the Allies. During the journey a number of prisoners plan their escape and experience six days between liberty and death, their fates in the hands of ruthless and increasingly nervous criminals. But the hostages band together and turn the tables with a clever ploy: they call in the Wehrmacht to aid them…

This documentary tells the story of great love, bitter disappointments and self-doubts - but most of all of courage. The courage to take risks, try something new and be yourself - no matter what age. The film dives deeply into the exceptional and heart-warming stories of a group of transsexuals and drag queens in their sixties and seventies, who summon up their bravery to take to the stage one last time. For two years they have been touring in five continents, basking in the success of a spectacular show called "Gardenia", directed by Alain Platel and Frank Van Laecke. Now, as the show comes to a close, the glamorous aging performers must leave the limelight and go home to the quiet lives they left behind.

In a mixture of feature film, music documentary and animated comics, historical facts are retold, analyzed and interpreted in modern settings. Ludwig van Beethoven, played by Lars Eidinger, becomes a contemporary of today's audience. Quick-tempered, irascible, curmudgeonly - that is the common image of Ludwig van Beethoven, the composer with the wild lion's mane. But there is also another Beethoven - young, seductive, spirited and, above all, combative.

At the bottom of the world is a place of wild isolation. Antarctica. Its vastness and extremes defy description. From volcanoes to glaciers... and peaks that scrape the sky, its geography is like nothing else in the world. Its wildlife embraces harsh, alien landscapes. And the people that make their home there for part of the year survive amidst unbelievable conditions, thanks to some of the most creative problem-solving on the planet. Filmed principally in the Sub-Antarctic and Ross Sea region as a series of vignettes - each based around one astonishing location after another - viewers will explore one of the most remote, and least-visited parts of the continent; less than 500 tourists make the journey to this region each year. Few places on earth capture the imagination like the great white continent. Now see it as it’s never been viewed before.

Every year during summer one of the biggest battles of mankind takes place amidst the hillsides of middle earth. Knights, elves and magicians are fighting orcs and the dark powers. What looks like a scene from Lord of the Rings actually takes place in a field in Germany, where thousands of role players meet to plunge into a fantasy world of their own. More than 250.000 people in Germany regularly make this transition. The documentary accompanies five role players in their daily lives and their parallel ones. Where does their yearning for a shared world of fantasy come from? What does this reveal about our hectic, technological life? Sunday warriors is a film about the passion for playing and the ambition to exceed your limits.

A cruise ship and 3,000 men – it is a universe without heteros and women that usually remains a mystery to the outside world. Once a year the Dream Boat sets sail for a cruise exclusively for gay men where most passengers are united by the wish to live life authentically as themselves in a protected place.

The Chinese philosophy of the Five Elements postulates that everything in our universe is based on wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. While traveling through China’s stunning landscapes and witnessing the seasons, this documentary seeks not only the roots of this ancient theory but also the continuing impacts on modern China.

With his ultra-conservative policies, US President Donald Trump is disrupting the global order as well as US institutions and society. Filmed less than one year after the start of his second mandate, this documentary analyses the concrete impact of his policies on the American people.