FILMS

ON THE TRAIL OF EVIL Is the brain of psychopaths different or do we all have the capacity to be evil? A journey to the centre of the brain. They're charming, they lie without the slightest scruples and they are capable of manipulating their environment. Psychopaths murder and rape without regrets and can still come across as the nicest people in the world. But what is going on in their minds? more ...

ALLAH IN EHRENFELD – THE BUILDING OF THE MOSQUE OF COLOGNE In a neighbourhood near the centre of Cologne, Germany's biggest mosque is about to be built. Construction is supposed to start in autumn 2008. Client and financier is the DITIB, the biggest Islamic organization in Germany, representing, according to its own sources, one million more ...

THE OLD LIFE AND THE NEW - PORTRAIT OF A SURVIVOR AND HER FAMILY On 7 April 2009, Susanne Preusker, head of the Social Psychiatry Department at JVA Straubing prison, had planned to finish work early. She was happy and excited – she was due to get married in 10 days’ time and there was still a lot to do. Because of this, when Prisoner K. stood in the door and asked if he could talk to her, she put him off until the following day instead. But the kind of next day she expected would never come. more ...

FORD FATHERS - GUESTS IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY The first generation of Turkish guest workers in Germany is reaching retirement age. Their original intention was only to stay for a few years in order to earn some money for a better life at home in Turkey. Then a few years became a few decades, which in turn became the rest of their lives. For the first generation of guest workers, more ...

CLIMATE PROTECTORS - A REVOLUTION IN BABY STEPS Since 30 June 2011, it has been official: Germany is to phase out nuclear energy and all nuclear power plants are to be switched off by 2022. The main reason for this is the first reactor explosion at the Fukushima plant in Japan on 12 March 2011 and the “maximum credible accident” that has been waiting to happen there ever since. more ...

ROBERT BOSCH - LEGACY OF AN INDUSTRIAL PIONEER It all began with the Bosch spark plug, which revolutionised the automotive industry. German industrialist Robert Bosch is seen as one of the great technical pioneers, having advanced the motorisation of mankind with his inventions. Even before the First World War, his company was represented in 33 different countries. more ...

'WE HAVE HAD AN ABORTION' - THE END OF THE SILENCE 6 June 1971. In German magazine “Stern”, 374 women – including feminist Alice Schwarzer and actresses Senta Berger and Romy Schneider – declared that they had had an abortion in earlier years. It was a day that will go down in history, a day when Germany was turned on its head. more ...

HUMAN DAMAGE Each year in Germany, more than 1000 people throw themselves in front of moving trains. Around 25 000 train engineers experience a suicide during their working lives, some as many as two or three – not counting the failed attempts in which the victims survive but suffer serious injuries. more ...

BEYOND BLACK AND WHITE HELEN ZILLE - SOUTH AFRIKA´S OPPOSITION LEADER She is white, of German-Jewish descent, and was raised as a Christian - and she is in a position of great power in one of the largest cities in South Africa, a country with deep wounds left by its painful past -- Helen Zille’s everyday political life as the Mayor of Cape Town is a balancing act. more ...

THE RAGE OF IMAGES - THE ITALIAN PHOTOGRAPHIC PROVOCATEUR OLIVERO TOSCANI Surely no-one can forget the large-format advertising poster of a Kosovar soldier wearing a blood-soaked t-shirt with the green badge of “United Colors of Benetton” on the bottom left-hand side of the image? more ...

The Lawyers – A German Story At the beginning of the 70's a few left oriented lawyers fought against the state of federal Germany. Germany was then perceived as a restrictive state by some. The lawyers defended members of the RAF, a left wing terrorist organisation, and were not afraid to be publicly associated with them. more ...

The Silence of Innocence – the Artist Gottfried Helnwein For more than 30 years, Gottfried Helnwein has been one of the most controversial but also one of the most well-known German-speaking artists of the post-war era. The most renowned museums in the world are fighting for his paintings. more ...

My Desert Happiness: Running through the Sahara – the Marathon des Sables They have never been so happy... Our film team will accompany the ultra runner Claudia Odekerken chronicling her preparations for the Marathon des Sables which she will run in spring 2009. The core filming period will, of course, be the Marathon des Sables itself. more ...

Chicken for Africa Breast or thigh? Germans have made their preference clear: since the healthy lifestyle revolution, no-one eats more chicken breasts than we do here. And the industry is happy to follow the trend, since breast meat generates the highest profits. more ...

Jürgen Grässlin – Breaking nuts with sledgehammers Germany is currently number 3 among the world's largest exporters of weapons. But one man is fighting to change that: Jürgen Grässlin, a schoolteacher from Freiburg, has been standing up to the "big players" of the armaments industry – above all Daimler-Benz – for 25 years. more ...

Dynasties in North Rhine-Westphalia: Katjes - The Little Kitty with the Sweet Tooth "Katjes, yes yes yes!" Everyone is familiar with the candies and sweets made by Katjes -- especially since the famous ad campaign that showed supermodel Heidi Klum painting her toenails with the company's colorful Yoghurt Gums wedged between her toes. more ...

Dynasties in North Rhine-Westphalia: Falke Ben Becker wears them, and so does Prince Charles: Sauerland knits. With their high-quality stockings and textiles, the two Falke cousins from the Sauerland region of Germany, Paul and Franz-Peter, have managed to outmanoeuver their cheaper competition from the Far East. more ...

The brewer from Cologne cathedral: Sounds Kölsch, tastes Kölsch, is Kölsch "Once a Früh drinker, always a Früh drinker". This is one of the advertising slogans of the Cologne family brewery. And Früh (a type of Kölsch) drinkers are many. Ultimately, the name FRÜH represents not only a Cologne brewery but with the "FRÜH am Dom" brand, also stands for the second largest. more ...

SEX + '68 – TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN 1968 was an extraordinary year: there were revolts, unrest and putsch attempts all over the world. A big wave towards liberation moved from Young America back to Old Europe. The liberation moved against bans, constraints and the hostility towards the natural (nude) form. more ...

CHILDREN OF THE 68´S 1968 - This year is the symbol of the global youth-protest-movement of the sixties. It is a symbol for the protest against the Vietnam War and for the civil rights movement in the US. It is also a symbol for the rebellion against the "mustiness of thousand years" in German Universities, in German state and society. more ...

Dynasties in North Rhine-Westphalia: Lambertz – The Cookie Kings from Aachen The man at the head of the biscuit-making company Lambertz is Germany's most dazzling and glamourous businessman: Dr. Hermann Bühlbecker. He throws extravagant parties and hobnobs with the likes of Bill Clinton and Bill Gates, Boris Becker and Mario Adorf. more ...