Philipp, a closeted teacher, is dating a female colleague to keep up appearances. One night he stumbles into a gay bar and falls for a man. Transformed by this love, he is no longer afraid to face up to who he is.
Over 40 years ago, Josefa left her home village in a dispute. A lot has happened in the meantime. Now she returns as a mature woman to where she is still known as a man.
Hamburg cab driver Axel Parschke finds himself in the Ore Mountains shortly before Christmas Eve: what begins as a lucrative job for IT analyst Jan Olsmer, who has gone blind after an accident and wants to meet his internet acquaintance Jenny Feller in the small village of Bergroda, turns into an...
Ezequiel is a martial arts master in capoeira and loves teaching. But when his boss's son becomes the new head of the school, he resigns in frustration. Without a job, he now faces a real problem, because as a dark-skinned immigrant with no education, it will be very difficult to get a job again....
Widow Clara and widower Ulf have an unusual commonality: Both mourn the loss of their spouses, but they cannot have them declared dead. Although there are no official doubts about the alleged suicide of Ulf's wife Anke or about the fatal glacier crash of Clara's husband Enno, the officer who...
Twelve days on foot with a donkey from Munich to Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze: father Marcel and son Felix will certainly not forget this trip. What is intended as an educational measure for the pubescent son becomes a dramatic and comical test of endurance for both of them. Not only...
It is 1988. Jacob, from Hamburg in West Germany, falls in love with Elisabeth in East Germany. When they secretly meet in East Berlin, it seems the Stasi (secret police) knows about it. When Jacob visits her village, someone informs on him and he is deported. Elisabeth knows who begrudges her this...
End of the 1970s in East Germany: Fred and Jonas are close friends. The 10-year-olds live near at the German-German frontier. After the mother from Jonas has made an exit application, the boys have to recognize that they are soon separated from each other. But they want to dig a tunnel to Australia...
Katja emigrated from East Berlin to Bavaria. There she has found the love of her life. Now she invites her mother Rita to take a look at her future husband. During her journey from Berlin to Bavaria, Rita picks up the stranded actor Hotte.
In view of her success, Stella mutated into a cynical, critic-resistant alpha woman who has banished her family to a sideline. Shortly after her 60th birthday, she has an accident and can suddenly hear what those around think of her.
Georg Fischer's previous life is falling apart. He has to give up his beloved mayoralty and then his marriage is also threatened. Because Georg is facing serious competition in the form of his victorious rival, who is making his wife, who has been neglected for too long, blossom with his romantic...
In 2016, DEFA celebrates its 70th anniversary: the film embarks on a journey into the exciting film history of the GDR. In a comprehensive kaleidoscope, the importance of DEFA productions is illuminated, the relevance of the films as propaganda productions for the GDR, which socio-political themes...
The only documentary ever made by DEFA on the topic of homosexuality was this public education film commissioned by the Hygiene Museum Dresden and produced in cooperation with East German gay and lesbian activists. In interviews, GDR lesbians and gay men talk openly about their first sexual...
