The Time Is Now - Jetzt ist die Zeit

The life stories of four people struggling with alcohol addiction allow for conversations about the apparent "normalcy" of alcohol and the subsequent difficulty of recognizing it as a potentially dangerous drug. The documentary stresses that alcoholism is a disease which must be treated medically and socially. Instead of turning a blind eye to others' problems, it is important to realize that people of all ages, genders, and social backgrounds can potentially be affected and that both the individual and society share responsibility for preventing relapse to alcohol abuse.

Eberhard Kunstmann, a shipbuilder at the Neptune Wharf in Rostock, counsels collegues who are struggling with alchohol addiction.

Documentary short about Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti (1909-1944).

Martin Brandt (1903-1989), an unforgettable Jewish actor and former member of the Jewish Kulturbund Theater in Berlin, recites from Macbeth and Nathan the Wise, the play that opened the theater in October 1933. These last filmic images of Brandt are combined with historic footage and traces of the Jewish past in Berlin.

Articles of former East Germany from household items to flags are thrown away at a garbage dump outside of East Berlin, serving as a reminder of a state that no longer exists. In this gesture of breaking ties with the past, the film captures the dumping ground as the last burial site of a society and the absurdity of time and existence.

The “Raging Reporter” Egon Erwin Kisch (1885-1948) was one of the most significant journalists of the 1920s and 30s. He wrote from a communist point of view, in language that sparkled with humor. Historic photographs and footage describe Kisch’s eventful journalistic and political life, which brought him to important cities including Berlin, Moscow, Sydney, and New York.