A Royal Affair

A collection of thoughts about the notion of decadence regarding Western philosophy, faith, and culture.

Immanuel Kant is one of the most famous philosophers of modern times. Born in 1724 in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), then the capital of East Prussia, he spent most of his life in his native region, bringing many books to him from France and England. The originator of the categorical imperative, this key figure of the German Enlightenment revolutionized Western thought by shedding new light on the notions of reason, tolerance and freedom. To mark the tercentenary of his birth, Wilfried Hauke presents a unique portrait of this emblematic thinker.

After the death of her father, Christina is a Swedish queen in her childhood. As a young woman, she leaves the throne, changes to the Catholic faith and escapes to Rome. The life of Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689), her power and her self-interest fascinate the world to this day. The documentary drama explores the history of the unadjusted queen in Stockholm and Rome, which is still a model for many feminists.

During a storm surge on the North Sea coast in 2007, farm worker Iven takes 3-year old Wienke, the daughter of dike warden Hauke Haien and his wife Elke, to Hamburg and leaves her outside a children’s home. Iven becomes a doorman in St. Pauli. 15 years later, he is visited by a young woman. She wants to know who she is and where she comes from. And she wants him to find her parents. Unwillingly, for he too has a past he would prefer to forget, Iven takes her to the village of Stegebüll on the coast. For the pair, a dramatic journey back in time begins to the fateful events in Stegebüll and the downfall of Hauke Haien and his family.

Re-enactments augment this documentary that chronicles Lincoln's journey from his early years as a rising politician through his presidency, the Civil War and to his untimely death.

“Pippi Longstocking“ has been translated into 70 languages and sold more than 60 million copies. The film tells the story of her “mother“, famous Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. When young an still unknown, she starts a diary on September 1, 1939. Full of despair about the world, she is in conversation with herself and discovers the healing power of writing. As WWII ends with millions dead and the destruction of Europe, her first book about rebellious Pippi is published.

In the summer of 1928, the Scottish physician Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by accident, but it would take two more decades and a world war before he and others succeeded in producing the antibiotic in such large quantities as to eradicate the epidemics of the time: typhus, syphilis, gangrene and tuberculosis.