Documentary movies

Attempting an ethical perspective on the meat industry. Various people who work in the industry have their say. Can they justify killing animals?

A biologist describes her research into various species of frogs in the rainforest of Central America and their mysterious disappearance as if it were a criminal case. Brilliantly animated drawings accompany her vivid scientific analysis.

The amazing story of stunts, men and women who risk their lives every day on set to get the perfect action scene.

True crime formats are a guarantor for success for TV channels, publishers and radio stations. Whether fiction or documentary, every serial killer has their own movie on streaming providers. An interest in crime is part of human nature. The question "Who did it?" keeps the audience hooked to their screens or headphones. Fear and thrills provide an endorphin rush. True crime fans put themselves in the shoes of the investigators and empathize with the victims. They try to learn to arm themselves for their own lives in order to better recognize real dangers. Where does the hype around true crime come from?

The passionate story of the femme fatale, seductive and dangerous, a myth and a fantasy, through her representation in art.

Endless beaches, dunes, heath and the Wadden Sea characterize the landscape of Sylt. Germany's largest North Sea island is also a paradise for numerous animal and plant species. Around half of its area is under landscape or nature protection. In spring and autumn, thousands of migratory birds stop here on their way between Siberia and East Africa. Sheep graze on the dike meadows, female seals give birth to their young off Sylt. And the Sylt Wadden Sea is one of the last large wilderness areas in Europe. But in winter storms hit the island. If the “Blanke Hans”, as the storm on Sylt is called, causes the North Sea to rage, it hits the island with tremendous force. Only a few places on the German North Sea coast are as exposed to the force of the sea as the west coast of Sylt. The documentary shows Sylt's nature in fascinating images. People who are particularly connected to the island and its nature are accompanied in their everyday lives.

Non-binary film maker Toni Karat invited queer and sex-positive people of the ‘Berlin porn bubble’ for this impressive documentary about narcissism and self-love. In authentic and touching self-reflective interviews ten protagonists who are as diverse as possible – lesbian, gay, queer, trans, non-binary and often over 50 – tell their sexual stories and contemplate their personal journeys and struggles. It’s an almost philosophical little masterpiece with a lot of honesty and authenticity on both sides of the camera.

Podiatrist Edi passionately takes care of his patients' hurting feet. A courageous cut, a well-aimed stitch, and the previously hidden foot stories come to the surface.

A look at the Sun, the star that revolves at the center of the Solar System, and its representation in art throughout history.

Where there are humans, are also ravens and crows. No animal knows us better.

What happens to the food we digest after it leaves our body? Is it waste that is thrown away or a resource that can be reused? In search of answers, director Rubén Abruña embarks on an investigative and entertaining search through 16 cities on four continents. He follows the trail of feces from the long sewers of Paris to a huge sewage treatment plant in Chicago.

A painter, a naked woman, and a camera. In this triple constellation we explore the power of the gaze and the roles it imposes on us. An artist's studio turns into the setting for questions about how we look at and perceive women. The naked skin of the model becomes the canvas for an audiovisual exploration of the ways in which seeing and being seen anchors us in our body. And how this body shapes our experience of the world and our role in it.

Five young Ukrainians discuss life following the Maidan Revolution of 2014. Not all fought in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but it, regardless, shattered their life plans. Representing 'Generation Maidan', they face the question of how to cope with experiences of violence, how to go on. A local theatre director produces Hamlet, wherein they can use Shakespeare’s tragic character as a mirror and face their traumas onstage. For them, 'to be or not to be' is not simply text but an existential dilemma with no clear answer.

Experience a mystical journey through nature performed by a movement artist. Felix faces the whirling challenges of his inner turbulence with an emotionally charged dynamic, delicate strength, graceful dignity, as well as ecstatic devotion. Behold the fire dancer in the night.

Rovin lives on a remote farm on the Baltic Sea and explores his surroundings with insatiable curiosity. He is interested in the universe, planets, unknown creatures – and in tardigrades, those tiny multicellular organisms that look like dust bags on legs and are real survival artists. Quite unlike humans, as Rovin points out, because the latter are sure to die out one day. He sees this as a logical fact, not a threat. And when you open yourself up to the grainy, earthy images and the calm narrative, you eventually stop wondering, too, why that should be a problem. After all, as long as the wind blows through the trees and scatters the tardigrades, everything is in good order. In addition to the captivatingly alert boy, Renninger meets Marie, who knows everything about rocks, and Christopher, who decorates a place with these rocks. They are all on a quest and every day find a piece of what one cannot hold onto: the present.

The final part of the Creativity Trilogy explores existential threats our world is facing. An inspiring film about imagination's power and a hopeful glimpse into the future.

Is Taiwan the scene of the next bloody war? A Chinese attack could trigger a conflict between the superpowers. How great is the danger of a Chinese invasion?

In the run-up to parliamentary elections in mid-October, Polish filmmaker Marcin Wierzchowski travelled across his country to gauge the atmosphere in a society that is more divided than ever.

A portrait of late-actor Marco Klammer (Das Verlangen der Maria D., Thomas und Marco) in which fiction clashes with reality as Marco discusses his personal point of views and deals with the loss of his supposed soulmate.

Documentary about German comedian Loriot alias Vicco von Bülow, who would have been 100 years old in 2023.

The film accompanies members of a Hamburg choir singing modern pop songs.

Four rejected asylum seekers relive the hearing on their reasons for fleeing their home countries, shedding light on the core of the asylum procedure. Will the interviewees be able to describe their traumatic experiences in a way that satisfies the official criteria?

War and Justice is the first and only true-life documentary about the International Criminal Court (ICC), thanks to unprecedented access to Ben Ferencz, Luis Moreno Ocampo (ICC’s first prosecutor), and Karim Khan (its current prosecutor). Film directors Marcus Vetter and Michele Gentile follow Ocampo around the world as he enlists the support of Academy Award-winning Angelina Jolie and as they join Ferencz in the uphill battle against wars in the Congo, Libya, Palestine, and Ukraine.