The Best of Germany's Silver Screen

Alles auf Zucker! (Everything for Sugar!)

Jakob Zuckermann is down on his luck. The bailiffs are threatening to lock him up and his wife, Marlene, is threatening divorce. The only way the pool player sees to get out of his mess is to enter a contest and scoop the €100,000 prize money. But shortly before the tournament kicks off, his mother dies. Her will stipulates that her sons, who have been arch enemies for the past 40 years, can only claim her savings if they reconcile their differences and bring their families to hold a week long Jewish vigil over her dead body. While Marlene takes a crash course in the intricacies of being Jewish, and sweats over supplying the estranged and Orthodox relations with kosher fare, Jakob has another problem altogether. The pool tournament has just started…

Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei (The Edukators)

In his second film offering, director Hans Weingartner, who won several prizes and loud critical acclaim for his debut movie "The White Sound," tells the story of an accidental abduction. Two friends, Jan and Peter are sick of the uneven distribution of world wealth, and in a bid to make a small difference, they break into villas at night. They don't steal, but simply tip furniture upside down, and leave messages such as "the good times are over," or "you have too much money," signing off as "the educators." Jan and Julia, who is actually romantically involved with Peter, fall in love, and break into a villa together. They are caught red-handed by the owner, and in the absence of any kind of plan, inadvertently become kidnappers.

Napola (The Führer's Elite)

It's 1942 in Nazi Germany. Friedrich Weimer is a talented 17-year-old boxer from a working-class district of Berlin. His abilities open the door for him to attend a national political establishment, Napola, designed to shape the future elite of the Third Reich. In this foreign world, run according to the rules of Nazi law and order, Friedrich learns about competitive fighting and unexpected comradeship. His participation in a horrific deployment against escaped prisoners of war, and his growing friendship with Albrecht Stein, the quiet and sensitive son of a Nazi district leader, force him to make a decision which will write the closing chapter on his youth.

Schneeland (Snowland)

This film by Hans W. Giessendörfer has been described as a modern Gothic tale of lives that inhabit the darkest realms of humanity, while they struggle to find meaning and deep love. Nominated for the prestigious Max Ophüls prize, the movie tells the story of the writer, Elisabeth, who is left alone with her three children after her husband is killed in a car accident. She decides to follow him in death and travels to the Lapland snow desert where she met him years before. On her journey, Elizabeth finds the dead body of an old woman, and is gradually led into the lap of an exceptional and radical love story between Aron and Ina, who are united in their fight against destiny. Through their love, Elizabeth eventually turns back to her own life and to her children.