The first DEFA documentary on the topic of concentration camps and the Holocaust, this film was commissioned by the Soviet military administration in Berlin in connection with the preparations for the Sachsenhausen trial.
This documentary commemorates the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia.
During the final months of WWII, SS troop leader Upitz (Günther Simon) negotiates with the American secret service. He hopes to secure his own future in exchange for handing over the SS secret files, which include the entire network of Gestapo agents from the Balkans to the Baltic.
This documentary, filmed mostly in Berlin, serves as preparation for the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students, which was held in East Berlin in 1973. Portraits of a student, an athlete, and a workers' collective present a collective image of life for twenty-year-old East Germans.
The Wensloff family puts themselves in danger during World War II by hiding a Jewish family and falsifying passports.
The first science-fiction film brought out in East Germany, The Silent Star is based on Stanislaw Lem's mysterious novel, The Astronauts (1951).
This film musical is a romantic comedy of mistaken identities set at the 10th World Festival in Berlin. Alexej from Moscow meets and is attracted to Mascha, right before he leaves for Berlin. Mascha also travels to Berlin to perform with her cultural ensemble.
Beach, boots, Black Sea coast: an East German travel group is enjoying their vacation in Bulgaria until a problem with the ship's motor strands them all on a lonely island. Police expert Dr. Enderlein tries to keep everyone entertained by presenting them with a fake crime to solve.
In the final days of WWII the German soldiers Michael and Jürgen are on a Russian military plane to Moscow. In flashbacks, they remember…
This gripping drama, based on personal experiences of screenwriter Angel Wagenstein, is set during a chapter of the Holocaust in the Balkans that sheds light on the experience of Sephardic Jews. It was awarded the Special Grand Jury Prize at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival.