Hotel Astoria

It's the summer of 1987, and the young Schuster family from the Leipzig district is heading on vacation. With their Trabant and trailer, they set off for a small private accommodation near the border of what was then West Germany. This autobiographical animated documentary follows the family on their journey, providing a glimpse into the curious details of a typical GDR vacation so close to the western border. Between the Volkspolizei, border patrols, shortages, and idyllic beach scenes in East Germany's vacation paradise, this animated docufilm swings back and forth. Personal memories and carefully documented facts merge into a travel diary brought to life through animation.

Camille who literally likes to set the tone and the height-anxious Chameleon are inseparable. They love playing hide and seek and complete each other. Until one day when Chameleon has an idea that changes everything and things don't go as Camille expected it. Both have to make individual experiences and find their own way to overcome fear and pride to realise the value of their friendship. A touching adventure set in a beautiful analog environment.

A father and daughter have lost touch. They used to take trips to the cinema, discuss music and politics. Until her interests began to change; then her looks; then her way of speaking. And one day she told him she was going to a wedding party in Denmark. Instead she started a new life. As the wife of a jihadist living in Syria.

Because his single mother criticised the state, Alex was sent to a special children’s home at the age of eleven, in order to shape him – like almost 500,000 children in the GDR – into a “socialist personality”. He escaped and ended up as a punishment at the Torgau Closed Juvenile Detention Centre, more prison than social institution. His life was now dominated by military drill and violence … Reduced rotoscope images follow Alex’s memories and show how the trauma affects him even today.

Deep in the night when everyone is fast asleep, funny shapes and jolly beasts rumble though the bedroom. There is so much to discover! Only the break of dawn will put an end to their nightly adventures. But dusk is only a stone’s throw away.