Aimée & Jaguar
This war drama/romance takes place in Berlin, late in World War II and is based on a true story. The two main characters are Lilly Wust (AKA Aimée) and Felice Schragenheim (Jaguar). Lilly is a…
Die dritte Generation
This 1979 crime drama, directed by the controversial Rainer Werner Fassbinder, focuses on capitalist gain during times of political uncertainty. As a contemporary of Werner Herzog, Fassbinder was also known to have deep concepts as…
Herr Lehmann
This 2003 drama-comedy takes place in Berlin and follows a bartender, Frank Lehmann, who is most frequently called Herr Lehmann. There are some interesting clips that could be used in an educational setting, particularly earlier…
Die geliebten Schwestern
This 2014 historical drama-romance is another telling of Friedrich Schiller’s story. (We previously saw Schweighöfer’s Schiller, which was released in 2005.) This telling features Florian Stetter as Schiller and Henrietta Confurius and Hannah Herzsprung as…
Viktor Vogel Commercial Man
This film is a 2001 romantic comedy. We follow a young man’s adventure into early career and other aspects of young adult life. Viktor is played by Alexander Scheer (of Sonnenallee fame). Götz George, who…
Finsterworld
This 2013 drama focuses on the dark side of otherwise regular people. Many actors have had smaller roles over the years – or may be most famous in Poland – but the highlight of this…
Enkel für Anfänger
This 2020 comedy centers itself around intergenerational relationships and the needs of retired individuals compared to those of younger generations. There is a sequel (Enkel für Fortgeschrittene), but this post focuses solely on the first.…
Stadtgespräch
Don’t be silly – this 1995 film is not for the classroom. That being said, it deserves a post for those who are looking for films for their own enjoyment. Some of the favourite actors…
Die Drei !!!
This 2019 family-appropriate adventure film was popular enough to get a TV series, which started in 2023. Jürgen Vogel is a familiar face here (assuming you can recognize him with hair!). You may also recognize…
Das perfekte Geheimnis
This 2019 film features a star-studded cast, including Elyas M’Barek, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Jessica Schwarz, Karoline Herfurth, Frederick Lau, Florian David Fitz, Katja Riemann, and so many others. There is an explicit conversation between M’Barek’s…
Ostfriesen auf der Bank
This 2020 comedy film got its start as short YouTube clips. The short, someone disconnected scenes show this history, but it also makes it perfect to show as clips for the classroom. There is both…
Das Jahr der ersten Küsse
This 2002 film is marketed as a drama comedy. There are pieces in the rom-com category, but in true German film nature, the drama pulls it back to reality. We know Max Mauff from Die…
Jürgen – Heute wird gelebt
This 2017 comedy has a hint of rom-com, though it is wrapped in awkward social incompetence, thereby providing the film with the simple “comedy” label. Our title character is played by Heinz Strunk, an actor…
Vorsicht vor Leuten
This 2015 comedy is an interesting warning in society and could be an interesting conversational piece. Charly Hübner is our main actor. We have seen him before in Das Leben der Anderen, the Bibi und…
Schubert in Love: Vater werden ist (nicht) schwer
This 2016 comedy is currently available on Netflix. Olaf Schubert plays himself, kind of. Fans of German stand up and other such comedy may recognize him. His father is played by Mario Adorf, a Swiss-born…
Offline – das Leben ist kein Bonuslevel
This 2016 adventure comedy centers around teenage gaming culture and has is currently available on Netflix. There are significant ties to World of Warcraft both in game style as well as gamer life. Moritz Jahn…
Wir können nicht anders
This 2020 Netflix film, otherwise known as Christmas Crossfire, stars Kostja Ullmann. Merlin Rose also joins the cast. He may look familiar from Hot Dog, an episode of Dark, or the TV series Das Boot.…
Das Wunder von Bern
This 2003 Sönke Wortmann and Rochus Hahn film is already a staple in many German classrooms. Teachers cite the slow pace and focus on soccer and family as top reasons to show this in class.…
3 Türken und ein Baby
This 2015 comedy is currently available on Netflix! Ekram Bora (AKA the Türkish-German rapper Eko Fresh as well as Elektro Eko) plays one of the three brothers in this film. This was his first time…
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…
Die fruchtbaren Jahren sind vorbei
This 2019 comedy is in Swiss German and revolves around conception and birthing as a woman in her 30s. German teachers don’t often have a ready supply of Swiss films to view, which may be…
Der Besuch der alten Dame (2008)
Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s Der Besuch der alten Dame has been filmed a few times throughout film history, dating back to the early years of the star actress’ career, actually. This particular version stars Christiane Hörbiger as…
Nach Fünf im Urwald
This early Franka Potente film (1995) is a classic rom-com, focused on the issues of teenagers. This was Potente’s first professional film. Alongside Franka Potente is Axel Milberg. We may know him from the Fifth…
Das doppelte Lottchen (1950)
Narrated by Erich Kästner himself, this version’s screenplay was adapted from his book himself. Lotte and Luise are played by twins Isa and Jutta Günther. This was the first film for both girls, and they…
Schule
This 2000 comedy with Daniel Brühl centers around the last few weeks of school before the Abitur. Besides Brühl, several other well-known faces show their younger versions here. Denis Moschitto, Axel Stein, Niels-Bruno Schmidt (of…
Jack the Ripper
This 2016 thriller (available on Amazon Prime in its original German!) centers around the story of the Whitechapel murders. Sonja Gerhardt, whom we know from Sommer and die wilden Hühner, plays our main character, Anna…
Crazy
This 2000 drama centers around a partially paralyzed* teenager who transfers to a boarding school. We follow him as he learns how to settle in his new surroundings. Robert Stadlober is our main character, Benjamin.…
Die Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl
This 1993 documentary covers the life of Leni Riefenstahl, detailing not only her involvement in the propaganda of WWII, but also attempts to understand her as an artist without the bias of history. It is…
Meine schöne Bescherung
This 2007 Christmas comedy centers around a “patchwork” family, who all comes together to celebrate Christmas. Alongside Martina Gedeck and Heino Ferch, many other familiar faces show up in this film. Jazmin Tabatabai, whom we…
Die Halbstarken
This 1996 Til Schweiger film is about teenage rebels and their dreams for easy money. There’s not much to say about this film, honestly. It was a TV Movie, and most of the actors remained…
Bibi und Tina
The 2014 film is the first in a series of four musical-style films dating through 2017. All are part of the Bibi Blocksberg storylines, but take place when Bibi is a teenager. This post will…
Steiner – Das eiserne Kreuz, 2. Teil
Although this 1979 film is originally in German, English, and French, carries an original German title, was produced in West Germany, and stars several German speaking actors, it is obvious with the dubbing quality that…
Die Freunde der Freunde
This 2002 film featuring Matthias Schweighöfer, Florian Stetter, and Jessica Schwarz, explores relationships of all types. There is some interesting styling in the video for this film, which may make for an interesting discussion in…
Die wilden Kerle 4
This is the fourth film of a series of six. The post for the first film can be found Here. Unfortunately I haven’t gotten my hands on the rest of the films yet – keep…
Nichts bereuen
This 2001 film featuring Daniel Brühl, Jessica Schwarz, and Denis Moschitto is a romantic comedy about a young man who tries to win the attention and affection of a former high school classmate. As far…
Die wilden Hühner
This post will cover the first film, released in 2006. There is a post for the final film at Die wilden Hühner und das Leben. Unfortunately I haven’t gotten my hands on the middle film,…
Jerry Cotton
This 2010 comedy is a parody of crime movies such as Bond films, centered in the FBI. Think Johnny English. The most famous faces we see may be Christian Tramitz, Christiane Paul, Moritz Bleibtreu, Heino…
Zwei Weihnachtsmänner
This 2008 romantic comedy follows the trip home for two very different men. It’s a great lesson in attitude! This post covers both Teil 1 and Teil 2. I wouldn’t recommend one without the other,…
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…
Kartoffelsalat
This 2015 Otto Waalkes film is a comedy/horror. It features similar humor as Scary Movie meets Napoleon Dynamite, for reference. Besides Otto, many of the cast have only ever been in this film, or have…
Der Krieger und die Kaiserin
This film, released in 2000, is full of A-list actors, and of course the famous Tom Tykwer as director. It is billed as a drama-romance. Taking place in a mental institution, the setting lends itself…
Coming In
This 1997 film with Franka Potente is the story of a gay man who begins questioning his sexuality. Stefan Wink plays the Assistent/partner Lorenz. His career began in the early 1990s. He followed this film…
Buddy
This 2013 Michael “Bully” Herbig comedy is the story of a man who thinks he’s going crazy because he sees someone no one else can see. Another romantic comedy with a stereotypical bachelor, this time…
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
This 2008 Moritz Bleibtreu film is based on the true story of the Red Army Faction (RAF) and its actions during the 1960s and 70s. The styling of this film makes it look like a…
Bullyparade der Film
This 2017 film version of Bullyparade brings back all of the favorite stories! Much of the cast is the same as the Bully films and show tend to be. One important addition is Anette, played…
1 1/2 Ritter
This 2008 Til Schweiger comedy takes hits at Knight’s Tale and plenty of other pieces of culture and history. As in many of Til Schweiger’s films, this one is filled with familiar faces for the…
Männerherzen
This 2009 film with Til Schweiger is a comedy revolving around men and their issues with women. This film has a sequel, released two years later. This post only reports on the first film. Along…
Linie 1
This musical is very Berlin! It was released in 1988 and does a great job showing the different pros and cons of living in the free side of the city, as well as the judgement…
Türkisch für Anfänger
Using the same cast and characters as the show of the same name, this 2012 film is not a continuation of the story, but rather a reinventing of it. It begins as sort of a…
Gegen die Wand
Gegen die Wand, released in 2004, is a film that deals with cultural expectations, addictions, and other (bad) coping devices. In other words, right away one I wouldn’t recommend for the classroom, though it might…