Movies: Defa Studio Fur Wochenschau Und Dokumentarfilme

Das russische Wunder (The Russian Miracle) (1963) is a two-part East German documentary directed by Annelie and Andrew Thorndike. The documentary chronicles Russia’s dramatic transformation from the Tsarist Empire to the Soviet Union, covering key hi...

Archive footage of bomb detonations during the Second World War combined with abstract graphic elements which show the destructive potential of modern nuclear missiles. Together the images are a silent warning of armament and war....

The film sheds light on the topic of the high divorce rate among young people in the form of journalistic statements and scenes as well as analytically reflected statements and statements of experience by sociologist Dr. Ursula Hempel, divorced and s...

An East German documentary film using archival footage to attempt a connection between Imperial Germany, the government of the Weimar Republic, and the Third Reich to the government of West Germany at the time (1950s). Hence banned in West Germany fo...

An international anthology about the struggles of female workers around the world....

This black and white documentary film reports on a brigade of women, they are the "stars" of a Berlin light bulb factory. What is striking is the cordiality and good cooperation within the women's group, despite their monotonous work in the control a...

This documentary details the life of Klaus Fuchs who was a spy for the Soviet Union while working on nuclear research in the United States and Great Britain. It also discusses the contributions of German scientists to the atomic bomb....

Martha Bieder is the last rubble-woman in Berlin Rummelsburg. Every day, rain or shine, she stands at the conveyor belt - as she has for decades - sorting through rubble. After a retirement party thrown for her by her male colleagues, she tells her s...

Documents important parts of the East German rock music scene of the late 1980s, from well-established bands like Silly, to underground rock bands like Feeling B. This road movie features young people using music to express their take on life, opposi...

A documentary dedicated to the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students held in East Berlin in the summer of 1973....

Posing as West German journalists, East German documentary filmmakers Heynowski and Scheumann pay a visit to the notorious Nazi-turned-mercenary Siegfried “Kongo” Müller, pump him with booze, and get him to talk about his life and war campaigns in Af...

This first co-production between the GDR and Great Britain is intended to contribute to an understanding of the situation and attitudes of millions of working people in opposing social orders. Using the example of shipyard workers, fishermen, the bri...

A documentary about the deconstruction of the Berlin Wall which makes no use of vocal commentary but instead focuses on visual elements. From the Potsdamer Platz to the Brandenburg Gate, the camera captures the historic events from all sides and diff...

In early summer 1989, Helke Misselwitz portrays young musicians in a band who produce their music on other people’s waste items. The four boys call themselves "Bulk Rubbish" and they drum out their resentment, having grown up on the new housing estat...

The story of the Grünthal peasants' uprising against the commander who oppresses and exploits them....

Young East German men starting their compulsary 18-month military service at a Rostock garrison....

Urlaub auf Sylt (Vacation in Sylt) (1957) is an East German documentary directed by Annelie and Andrew Thorndike. The film investigates the past of Heinz Reinefarth, a former SS general involved in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, who later be...

Nine very private encounters with different people of the post-war generation and their memories of childhood and youth. Among others, the guitarist and singer Peter "Caesar" Gläser and the actress Christine Harbort. Roland Steiner asked his contempo...

Leontes, king of Sicily, tries to convince his friend Polyxenes, king of Bohemia, to stay longer as his guest. But only Hermione, Leontes' wife, can talk Polyxenes into not leaving. Leontes gets suspicious. Is his wife having an affair with his frien...

A locomotive journey traversing the North to the South of the German Democratic Republic on the eve of its dissolution. Labourers, punks, mothers, intellectuals, young and old are implored to reflect on their life choices, the sacrifices they've made...