23 – Nichts ist so wie es scheint
This 1998 film won the Deutscher Filmpreis 1999 and is based on a true story. It was August Diehl’s first film role and he plays our main character. Alongside him is Fabian Busch, whom we…
Zug in die Freiheit
This 2014 documentary centers around stories of DDR escapes. There are many interviews with those who risked their lives to do so, as well as several original clips from the era. Sebastian Dehnhardt and Matthias…
Flucht nach Berlin
This 1961 drama-thriller, currently available on Amazon, was a West German production centering around farmers leaving East Germany to flee the collectivization that was taking place. Being a post-war older film, the actors may not…
Mahlzeit DDR
This 2003 documentary discusses the common problems of food shortages during the DDR era. It includes footage of propaganda films and ads from East Germany. This film includes many interviews with Germans who had various…
Unser bester Mann
This 1983 East German comedy follows a sort of clumsy and socially awkward man in Berlin in his quest to find an attractive young lady and starts a new job. This film has some fun…
Berlin ‘48
This documentary shows Germany in the post-war era, especially focusing on the Berlin Airlift. This particular documentary was originally in English and the titles and other written information are not translated into German. I’m writing…
Good Bye Lenin!
This 2003 film with Daniel Brühl sees the differences between East and West Germany through a different lens than most films. The premise of this one is a fragile mother who falls into a coma…
Das Leben der Anderen
This 2006 film is based on the lives the Stasi watch – and of course, the lives of the Stasi members themselves. East German actor Ulrich Mühe plays our Stasi main character. Mühe died the…
Was tun, wenn’s brennt?
This 2001 Til Schweiger film focuses on Berlin in the 80s – and the punk life that dominated the era, and how that affected the (former) punks as the years went on. Next to Til…
Sonnenallee
This 1999 film focuses on life at the East-West Berlin border, specifically the teen lives of the times. As such, it has long since been used in German classrooms, though I have not used this…
Liebe Mauer
Released in 2009, this movie is set in 1989 along the East/West Berlin border. We meet Franzi as she moves into an apartment right next to a crossing. She lives in the West and crosses…