In a Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Poland in 1944, Jacob Heym is summoned to the police station.
In a small town, everyone has tried to forget what happened shortly after WWII. That is, until a stranger finds a book that Jadup gave to the young refugee, Boel, over 30 years ago. Painful memories of the period after the war and of Boel and her sudden disappearance begin to surface.
After the police tell thirteen-year-old Jan that his communist father is wanted for murdering an SA man, the only person willing to befriend him is Max, who is involved with a resistance group.
Fall 1989: Jan is almost 16. Caught while trying to escape to West Germany, he is transferred from prison to a juvenile detention center. Here, he meets Jana … and what starts as a bet, becomes true love. When Jana gets pregnant, the situation spirals out of control.
Before going to bed, Jana plays a lullaby on her violin for the little star. In the girl's imagination, the star dances happily and falls from the sky. The star has to be back in its place before sunrise otherwise it will become blind. Jana is not able to help with the star's return.
World-famous geneticist Professor Hülsenbeck (Norbert Christian) is a man of integrity who refuses to mix science and political gain. Because his findings are being used to harm humanity, he imigrates to the United States in 1933 in protest against Nazi racial politics.
A film produced in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was the GDR’s first cinematic homage to the Baroque composer. It frames Bach as a humanistic artist befitting East Germany’s canon of cultural heritage.
When the French occupied Weimar, Goethe retreated to his office and used his memories of a journey to Italy as the basis for his book Italian Journey.
Individual GDR citizens share the responsibility for improving their own daily lives and the life of the community as a whole, an attitude which has lead to a national community improvement campaign.
This film, set in the early sixteenth century, thematizes the relationship between art and political responsibility.