Former performance athlete Barbara is a highly respected member of her factory, where she is known for the high standards she sets for herself and her colleagues.
Jutta (Renate Krössner, Solo Sunny) and Eric were once lovers and aspiring chefs in the Spree Forest region of East Germany. Brilliant but prone to risky improvisation, Jutta fell into obscurity, while Eric defected to the West and became famous.
Intellect and Power, Art and Culture: "Take up the pen, mate!" The history of literature and art in the German Democratic Republic is repeatedly punctuated by State oppression. This documentary shows how these breaks reveal contradictions between intellect and power in the GDR.
A teenager is found murdered in the village square, and the examining doctor recognizes her son's knife at the scene of the crime. The film works its way back to reveal how this situation came about.
A short excerpt from a 2-hour interview that film historian Margit Voss conducted with assistant director Doris Borkmann in 2007. As an assistant to director Konrad Wolf, Borkmann talks about her collaboration with Wolf on the 1973 DEFA feature film The Naked Man on the Sports Field.
Ferdinand von Walther, the son of President von Walther, is in love with Luise, the daughter of the town musician Miller.
The workers' struggle at the turn of the century is depicted through the story of the Schulz family. The year is 1889 and Bismarck's Socialist Laws, which sought to hinder the activities of the Social Democratic Party, are still in effect.
Ten years later, director Heise returns to Stalinstadt, now called Eisenhüttenstadt, the site where his never-completed documentary Anka and... was filmed.
The king has captured the dangerous and thick-skinned Iron Hans and the penalty for setting him free is death. Iron Hans eventually persuades the young prince Joachim to release him and the two run away and live in hiding in the forest.
After Jochen saves police officer Erich's life, the two men become close friends and Erich helps Jochen get a job working for Berlin's local train system.