Romantik – Kunst wider das Chaos

During the First World War, women filled the vacant jobs of men who had been sent to the front. Now they fought for the right to vote, social participation and sexual self-determination. This documentary returns to the focal points of this first major global emancipation movement and delves into the heated atmosphere of the 1920s.

Under the artistic direction of director Andreas Dresen, 20 renowned documentary filmmakers, experienced television writers, and teams tell stories about the country and its people. The teams filmed at 20 different locations between June and August 2010 under the same production conditions: four days of filming, one week of editing.

From the cabinets of curiosities created in Italy during the 16th century to the prestigious cultural institutions of today, a history of museums that analyzes the social and political changes that have taken place over the centuries.

In 2016, DEFA celebrates its 70th anniversary: the film embarks on a journey into the exciting film history of the GDR. In a comprehensive kaleidoscope, the importance of DEFA productions is illuminated, the relevance of the films as propaganda productions for the GDR, which socio-political themes were in the foreground, but also which heroes DEFA brought to the screen and celebrated as people from the people.

This is about sex. About sex in Germany and who, on which side of the Iron Curtain, was better at it. At the end of the Second World War, Germans shared the same culture, lifestyle, morals. But four decades later, everything had changed. Forty years of division left their mark in many places—including the beds of the German people.

In a lavishly produced documentary, we follow in the philosopher's footsteps. Drawing on private letters, secret service dossiers and the informers' reports of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior, we paint a fascinating portrait of a visionary who was badly shaken by fate.