First Run Features presents four films from the DEFA Collection, the legendary East German Studio. I Was Nineteen (1968, 115 mins) — A film by Konrad Wolf During the last days of World War II, as Germany is finally lib... more »erated from the Nazis, a young Soviet soldier of German descent returns to his homeland, along side the victorious Soviet Army. This gritty, realistic film is based on the director Konrad Wolf's actual experiences. A true landmark of postwar German cinema, I Was Nineteen is ranked by film critics among the top 100 Most Significant German Films of all time.
"An accomplished work of art- a first-class film!" - Berlin Neue Zeit Murderers Are Among Us, The (1946, 81 mins)
A film by Wolfgang Staudte A man and a woman return to war-torn Berlin to face the harsh realities of post-war Germany. Susanne Wallner is a concentration camp survivor who, despite unspeakable experiences, is filled with a new desire to live. She wants to move back into her Berlin apartment, where Dr. Hans Mertens has taken up residence. He is a former officer and surgeon in the German army who finds himself unable to deal with the haunting memories of his role in the war. Through Susanne's caring, the broken man gathers new strength and courage, but discovers that the shadow of his past cannot be avoided.
The first feature film produced in Germany after World War II, it was made under the auspices of the newly created DEFA Studios and features the budding star Hildegard Knef. Its film noir style is a successful mixture of expressionist traditions and an accurate documentary point of view. Ranked by critics in the top ten of Germany's 100 most important films.
"A serious film concerned with the knotty problem of the individual German's guilt for Nazism...Superb camera and montage technique" Variety Naked Among Wolves (1963, 119 mins)
A Film by Frank Beyer Jankowski, a Polish prisoner from Auschwitz, arrives at the Buchenwald concentration camp hiding a little boy inside a suitcase. When the prisoners and members of the camp's covert resistance group discover the boy, his innocence moves many, yet his possible discovery by the camp guards threatens them all.
Based on a true event and on the novel by Buchenwald survivor Bruno Apitz, this was the first German film about life and death in a concentration camp.
Starring Academy Award Nominee Armin Mueller-Stahl (Shine, Avalon, Music Box, Utz) in one of his first film roles.
"A powerful narrative of the last weeks at Buchenwald, before its liberation. Novel approach, magnificently photographed, and a high all-round standard of acting by a cast unknown in the West." Variety Gleiwitz Case, The (1961, 70 mins)
A film by Gerhard Klein To justify their invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II, the Nazi high command hatches a secret plan: six Polish men from an SS training camp are sent on a special mission to the town of Gleiwitz, to fake a Polish raid on Germany. The 'provoked' Germans will thus launch a 'counterattack' on Poland.
Reminiscent of the Weimar avant-garde and Leni Riefenstahl in form and style, this one-of-kind masterpiece brings to life an unforgettable true story.
"Smartly constructed, meticulously detailed, very powerful!" - Jewish Week« less
