Alfred Balthoff

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East Berlin, shortly after the construction of the Berlin Wall. Kurt Schröder and his family dig a tunnel to escape to West Berlin as they struggle to overcome the obstacles blocking their underground path to freedom.

After a line of mischief Philip Gale, an American sailor, is lured into hiring on the "Yorikke", a tramp cargo, by Lawski, a stoker from Poland. Still, the two become friends within the motley crew of losers from all nations. Gale and his new companion soon are more than disillusioned: the "Yorikke" is far from seaworthy and more of a coffin than a ship, work is close to slavery, and treatment by the officers and their subalterns is harsh and cynical. One day they make an alarming discovery in a tin of plum butter they have procured from the ship's cargo... Written by Anonymous

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A music comedy directed by Dietrich Haugk based on the play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.

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The film focuses on life in a World War II German penal battalion camp somewhere in Russia. The convicts include a heroic doctor unjustly convicted of avoiding military service, an officer who retreated against orders, and common criminals. It shows their life in the camp, clearing mines, living in trenches on the front line.

Peter Pan is an adolescent boy who has escaped from his parents to the dreamland of Nowhere. Peter is determined to remain a little boy forever; because the adult world does not please him at all. Together with the fairy Tinkerbell, Peter Pan lures the girl Wendy and her two brothers John and Michael to Nowhere, where Peter teaches them to fly. They join forces with the Indians, led by the beautiful Tigerlilly, to fight together against the evil Captain Jack Haken and his wild pirates.

A man is accused of murdering his wife. The state prosecutor assumes he did the deed to spend more time with his lover. But the woman in question says that his wife committed suicide in her presence and that the accused is innocent. Despite the objections of the prosecutor, the accused is set free and is found dead shortly thereafter. The prosecutor decides to pursue the case and comes upon a band of criminals, who sell German state secrets. Shortly before the investigation comes to a close, a woman is murdered. When a witness asserts to have seen him near the woman's dead body, the prosecutor himself ends up in court and must now prove his innocence.

In 50s Canada, trapper Jacques Monge is a freedom-loving adventurer. But when he falls in love with Hannah, a farmer's daughter, he stirs up trouble within his family.

Set during the rise of the Nazi regime, Elisabeth Maurer and Hans Wieland enjoy successful careers as actors in Berlin. Confident in her career, Elisabeth, who is Jewish, ignores the advice of a colleague to leave Germany in the face of increasing anti-Semitism. Believing that he can protect her if she becomes his wife, Hans convinces Elisabeth to marry him. In the following years, as Hans's career thrives, Elisabeth awaits the end of the Nazi terror which bars her from public life. When the situation worsens in 1938 with the Kristallnacht pogrom, Elisabeth decides to leave the country, but Hans, who still believes he can protect her, convinces her to stay with him.

A large German city at the beginning of the 1960s. This is where the well-to-do Berger family lives. Outwardly a bourgeois idyll, but behind the scenes the family is in turmoil. The relationship between father and son in particular is extremely tense. Martin Berger is seduced by the attractive Britta. It is the beginning of an affair that ends tragically. When the young man finds out that his father is also having sex with the young woman, Martin decides to kill her and also cleans up his friends who are not averse to the vices of life...

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Karin is a brilliant student whose good looks give her an added advantage in assuming the role of a prostitute and exploring Berlin's thriving sex industry. Hired posthaste by nefarious Madame Clavius, the pretty blonde sets about gathering information for her thesis when she discovers that her old friend Madeline has been financing her luxurious lifestyle by working as a call girl in the very same brothel. The situation turns sinister when Madeline reveals to Karin that she has fallen in love and longs to start a new life, but any girl who tries to leave Madame Clavius soon turns up dead. When Madeline admits to considering suicide, Karin hatches a plan for both of them to make a clean break from the brothel and avoid Madame Clavius' deadly wrath.

A story about a family after the Second World War. The petty bourgeois cashier Karl Weber of Berlin observes from a distance how his son Ernst participates in the building of a new socialist society. Karl does not understand Ernst's visions, instead he confides in his other son Harry. However, Harry becomes involved in illicit business and Karl quickly realizes that it would be best to join his son Ernst in the citizen-owned factory.

The famous singer Roberto Ricci wants to save himself from his overly intrusive female fans with a fake marriage. Mr. Praxl from the marriage institute Eros finds him his own granddaughter Gertie, who works as a waitress and wants to finance her own singing and dancing career with the fee for the role of his wife. To comply with Mr. Ricci's wishes, the attractive Gertie disguises herself as a wallflower with her hair pinned up and high-necked dresses. The act has the desired effect on Roberto's female followers. Over time, however, Gertie and Roberto actually fall in love with each other, which sparks the jealousy of Roberto's stage partner Loretta. With the help of Füllkrug, she tries to thwart the budding romance.

A killer terrorizes the small German town of Hainsburg. The police moves in to investigate the crimes and finds a suspect among a small group of teenagers.

While an anatomy seminar prepares to examine the cadaver of Franz Wozzeck in the name of scientific progress, medical student Büchner excoriates humanity for having allowed Wozzeck’s fate. The tragic story unfolds in flashbacks, as Büchner narrates.

Dorothea Angermann the daughter of a clergyman is accused of the murder of her husband, a brutal man that she was obliged to marry because she was pregnant and he was the father of the baby.

Shortly after WWII, the DEFA Studios produced a series of operas and operettas which belonged to the classical German musical heritage. This enchanting film, the very first opera production of DEFA, stands out because of its lavish decor and costumes, its outstanding actors and their masterful voices of that time.

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