Fred-Arthur Geppert

A funny story about fifth grader Ottokar who is always ready to fight for justice.

In an act of friendship and solidarity between two mining towns in 1929, the locals of Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, give their flag as a gift to the locals of Bergstedt, Germany in this GDR propaganda film. This quickly takes on a symbolic meaning for the miners in Bergstedt as the Nazi party demands that this Soviet gesture be erased and the flag be replaced with their own. The miner and communist party functionary Otto Brosowski publicly declares it his duty to defend this flag against every danger, and he keeps his promise despite his family being threatened by torment and torture.

In 1596, the Dutchman Willem Barents sets sail on a long voyage with two ships to find a north-eastern sea route to China for the Amsterdam merchants. Ice masses and storms force the prudent navigator Barents to separate from Rijp, the captain of the second ship, so that he can organize a rescue operation in Holland. Trapped in the polar winter, Barents and his crew hope for help...

The aircraft mechanic Hans Bertram is an incorrigible apron hunter who boasts that he can get around any woman. He even makes bets on it. But then he falls in love with the new colleague, the budding engineer Helga Nonnert. He fails to conquer them by storm. After many tangles and fun episodes, she manages to heal him of his gallant frivolity.

The film tells the story of the smelter brigade of a steel mill whose members are connected by a strong comradeship. Among the workers are, for instance, young Rolf, whom everybody just calls "Lachtaube" and who always comes through for his co-workers, or the likable Hubert, who works as a simple smelter again after being dismissed as the head of the steel mill. Then, there is also the stubborn Manfred, who should have become a brigadier long ago because of his experience and his competence, but this privilege is refused to him because Manfred is not a party member. Ironically, it is Manfred who hears by accident about the plans of the mill to close down the old Martin furnaces – and to lay off the smelters. When the other men learn about the plans they enter the barricades for their jobs and force the plant′s management to face the workers′ demands and criticism.

When twin brothers Georg and Steffen look a little too deeply into their glasses one day, they decide to swap roles for 14 days. Georg is the manager of a large department store and Steffen is a writer. The two experience bizarre situations: The department store director is adored by a saleswoman with a passion for literature and has to report on his literary work as the guest of honor at a brigade meeting. He is also short of ideas for the lively stories he is supposed to write. The writer, on the other hand, is not very familiar with the bureaucratic customs of running a department store. He allows all the sales assistants to take their housekeeping day at once, approves 3,000 marks for decoration purposes and approves of all departments of the department store being open until 8pm.

For thirty years, Karl Achilles has been working at the chemical collective in Bitterfeld. But now his last day as a master at the plant has come. He is about to retire; even if Karl, who finds ending his working life difficult, wanted to stay on, it would not be possible. Karl’s colleagues have arranged a farewell dinner for the retiring master at an outdoor restaurant. But on his last day of work, before the farewell dinner, he meets all sorts of people: both colleagues and people, who do not work at the plant. A mosaic of the biography of a person who found fulfilment in his work and now has to look for the meaning of his life anew.