Führer und Verführer
Currently available on Amazon Prime, this 2024 historical drama begins with a warning and disclaimer as the view is from the Nazi perspective after thorough research. These comments are in English on the Amazon version.…
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…
Trautmann
Rated 12 and up in Germany, this 2018 war drama is a UK/Germany production and as such the language does not always match the lips when played in German. (They opted to dub the English…
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…
Russendisko
This Matthias Schweighöfer film follows three young men as they move their lives from Moscow to Berlin. Filmed in 2012, it takes place just after the Berlin Wall fell. You can read more about Matthias…
Wir sind jung. Wir sind stark.
This 2014 social drama is available on Netflix. It covers the events of 1992 in Rostock, during which xenophobic riots attacked Vietnamese refugees. Using a variety of film art techniques, this film can be analyzed…
Mein Führer
This 2007 is a drama comedy of WWII and is currently available on Netflix. The premise pulls a Jewish acting professor from a concentration camp in order to help Hitler’s image in the later years.…
Störtebeker
This 2006 film in two parts is an adventure film with a theme of pirates in the 14th century. It is split into two parts, each an hour and a half long. Parts of this…
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…
Max und Moritz
This simple audio-film uses the images from Wilhelm Busch’s Max und Moritz to tell the story. For those less familiar with the book, some of the Streiche (tricks, or in this case the chapters) may…
Struwwelpeter
This audio-film uses images from Wilhelm Busch’s Struwwelpeter exclusively. It goes through each short story with a musical clip and a collage of images from the book. At times the music is distracting, as it…
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…
Duell der Brüder – Die Geschichte von Adidas und Puma
This 2016 Docu-Drama tells the story of two brothers, Adi and Rudi Dassler, whose brotherly relationship deteriorated in such a way that resulted in the formation of two popular athletic shoe companies. Adi is played…
Dracula: Die wahre Geschichte der Vampire
This 2013 ZDF production is marketed as a historical documentary. It’s also currently available on Amazon Prime – get your Halloween viewing in while it’s available! This film is only 44 minutes long. It’s very…
Die Unsichtbaren
This 2017 historical drama focuses on the Jews still living in Germany in 1943, when Goebbels declared German “Jew-free.” This is based on 4 true stories, and the young people who survived this time were…
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…
Der Bockerer
This 1981 film (Teil I) is the story of a butcher and his navigation of his new – Nazi – surroundings. This post also covers Teil II, Österreich ist frei, which was released in 1996.…
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…
Heil
This 2015 comedy is satire, showing an African-German who loses his memory and begins being used by Neo-Nazis. Director Dietrich Brüggemann has also directed YouTube videos on the topic of xenophobia and homophobia, which he…
Judgement at Nuremberg
This 1961 U.S. film covers the trials of the war crimes of WWII. This film is originally in English. The German dubbing is – shall we say tolerable, especially given the release year. Featuring Spencer…
Der Untergang
This 2004 film starring Bruno Ganz shows the final days of Hitler as reported by his last secretary. It is important to remember the 1955 film, Der letzte Akt, which also used Traudl Junge as…
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…
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…
Das Boot
The story of life in an U-Boot during the war, this 1981 film explores the psyche and trials of the men serving their country under the sea. Giving a different view of the war from…
Die Nibelungen (Siegfried; Kriemhilds Rache)
These Fritz Lang films from 1924 follow the famous stories of Siegfried, beginning with the sword that he forged to slay the dragon. The actor playing King Etzel in Kriemhilds Rache probably goes down in…
Die Fälscher
Based on Operation Bernhard, this 2007 war film with August Diehl and Karl Markovichs is the story of a Jewish man whose skills in counterfeiting become well known among the Nazis. This film shows various…
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…
Berlin 36
This 2009 film is marketed as a true story of the Olympics, 1936. Gretel Bergmann was the best high jumper of her time, but as a Jew, she did not want to return to Germany…
Die Weiße Rose
This 1982 film is the same story as the more modern Sophie Scholl – the story of the student resistance group, the White Rose, and specifically Sophie Scholl. This film, while based on the true…
Dresden wie es mal war … zwischen Leid und Glück
This is a documentary film about the city of Dresden. As such, there are no actors. Footage is narrated in German. There is footage from before the destruction of Dresden that occurred during WWII. You…
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
This 1997 TV Movie takes place in 1942 in the ghetto in Warsaw. German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl joins an international cast (Americans, Canadians, Romanians…) in this US production, which is rated PG-13. This is a…