Realistfilm

Documentary short film about the afterlife of the remnants of the Berlin Wall.

„I began documenting their lives, if only because I hoped each film would have a happy ending.“ (Gerd Kroske)

There’s an oak tree that was familiar to everyone who used to drive along the highway just south of Berlin. Until 2004, it stood between the small suburban town of Ludwigsfelde and the intersection at Nuthetal. In the times of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), it took one hour to drive – in one of the famous East German “Trabant” cars – from the position of the tree to the East Berlin city center, which is why it was called the One-Hour Oak Tree. When the famous oak so steeped in history was cut down, the idea emerged to turn it into a sculpture.

The documentary tells the life story of the boxer Norbert Grupe, who was known by his fighting name Prince of Homburg.

A documentary about the tragic life of the forgotten German comedian Heino Jäger.

The anti-psychiatric Socialist Patients' Collective (SPK) was founded in Heidelberg in 1970 and attributed individual suffering to society’s capitalist structures. It began as a self-organised experiment in group therapy led by doctor Wolfgang Huber with psychiatric patients, featuring Hegel readings and individual agitation, before subsequently radicalizing, which ended in criminal proceedings against its members, some of whom went underground with the Red Army Faction.

Former East Germany, punk music, the wall, betrayal, jail, exit for the West: a film confronting these things on the offensive – and seeing its view of them as a balancing act.

Gabi, Stefan and Henry used to work as street-sweepers for the city of Leipzig. A ruin is all that is left of the Municipal Street Cleaning Base of that time and the city Leipzig is moving after the reunion. The noise of air hammers are everywhere. Nowadays their daily routine has become fragile between social welfare office, pub, and their homes. There is always a remainder, something that doesn´t work out even.

The place: the outskirts of Hamburg, a flat, two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom. The time: one day and the passing night. Wolfgang “Wolli” Köhler, former owner of a porn-cinema and a brothel, turned poet and illustrator, lives here with his wife Linda. Scenes of cohabitation. Scenes from a life together. Reminiscences of an existence that has led them from Waldheim in Saxony to St. Pauli in Hamburg. Insights into the abject wretchedness of the sex industry. The underworld of covert backyard meetings before the advent of AIDS. Prejudices are undermined, preconceptions challenged. Wolli takes a trip down his own personal “memory lane”.

In the 80’s, new border barrier systems were used in the former GDR. The escape attempts with cars towards West Germany increased. Metal workers and Stasi (Ministry for State Security) are working hand in hand for the defence against “terrorism” in order to prevent escape attempts. In conspiratorial work they created new barriers after their actual working hours. Crash tests for the defence against terrorism, collisions for the case of emergency. Cars crashing into the new barricades, leaving a total loss. From the mid-80s those barriers were installed at all border crossing points. BOUNDS is about the motivation of all who were involved, from tragic ending escapes and gives insight into the German engineering ingenuity and the military spirit.