Al Pacino: The Reluctant Star

In 1980, two men from the Rhineland pulled off one of the most spectacular million-mark heists in German history. A pair of con artists from Düsseldorf swindled the retail giant Metro out of a whopping 36 million DM. From then on, they were rolling in money and enjoying their life of luxury—first back home on Düsseldorf’s Kö, then on Copacabana—until Metro noticed the financial shortfall and put a bounty on the crooks’ heads. Not only the police but also the underworld were on the hunt for the two million-mark thieves. Above all, however, Metro manager Hannjörg Hereth took up the hunt. From then on, he had only one goal: to put the crooks behind bars and bring the millions back to the Rhine.

Wacky hairstyles, flamboyant characters, and plenty of highlights—let's go back to the '80s! We celebrated new stars—and weathered some serious crises.

From the 1950s to the present day, from Los Angeles to San Francisco via Berkeley University or Silicon Valley, this three-part documentary series unfolds the recent history of California, which is revolutionizing the world by its way of life and its incredible capacity for innovation.

The story around Frank’s voice: Francis Albert Sinatra as a person, the man behind the winning smile. Where lies the key to his success? How and why Sinatra became a big star, an icon, a hero, who influenced an entire era?

A portrait of the actress Winona Ryder, the great muse of nineties cinema, who, although she has had an atypical and somewhat erratic career, has always offered performances as sensitive as they are honest.

In this ten-part series, WDR takes viewers back to the 1990s—a time when cell phones were still huge bricks pressed against people’s ears, music channels like EinsLive and Viva were launching, and the old industrial area was transforming into a recreational destination.

A portrait of American actress Uma Thurman, muse of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and courageous voice for the many victims of despotic producer Harvey Weinstein.

A portrait of the Spanish-German actor Daniel Brühl, a versatile performer capable of moving easily from the gentlest to the darkest role.

May 8, 1945 – 11:00 p.m. – the guns fall silent on German soil. The greatest war the world has ever seen comes to an end for the Germans along the Rhine and Ruhr. The Zero Hour—Liberation Day—becomes both history and myth. During this time, people like Elisabeth Wilms, a baker’s wife from Dortmund, and Friedrich Lieffertz, a restaurateur from Cologne, become chroniclers. They capture the final days of the war with their cameras. The documentary by Franziska Rempe and Lukas Hoffmann begins with this so-called “Hour Zero.” Along the Rhine and Ruhr, life is gradually returning to the cities. And across Europe, thousands are now making their way back to their homes.

Can the National Football League’s appeal win over the hearts of fans in Germany and around the world for the long term? In “THE GAME – The NFL Takes Over Germany,” RTL explores this question in a high-quality, premium documentary and tells the extraordinary success story of the world’s largest sports league. Starting with the NFL Berlin Game in November 2025, the documentary traces the NFL’s rise from its historic beginnings to its status as a modern mega-event—featuring exclusive insights and interviews with, among others, NFL commissioners Roger Goodell and Gerrit Meier, as well as current and former German-speaking NFL pros such as Bernhard Raimann, Markus Kuhn, and Björn Werner.

Like a fairy-tale castle, Anholt Water Castle stands majestically in the western Münsterland region. In the new episode of the WDR series *Adelsdynastien in NRW* (Noble Dynasties in North Rhine-Westphalia), Julia Melchior visits the princely family of Salm-Salm. Against a wintry backdrop, the host, Carl Philipp, Prince of Salm-Salm, welcomes her and guides her through the history of the castle and his family.

The series explores the social and political landscape of Germany in the 1970s, covering topics such as rebellion, social change, and political turmoil. Each episode is approximately 43 minutes long and covers a specific aspect of the decade.