Helke Misselwitz

In the little town of Herzsprung almost nothing has changed since German unification - except a rise in unemployment. Johanna, a young mother and widow, becomes one of the unemployed and lives on welfare. To make matters worse, her husband commits suicide and she falls in love with a dark-skinned, roving adventurer; the whole village starts talking about it. The feature film debut of director Helke Misselwitz (Winter Ade, 1988).

A close-up of a small private company that delivers heating coal in the Prenzlauer Berg district of East Berlin. The feisty woman who runs the business does so with humor and understanding, and her seven male employees respect her. On the outside, they seem like tough guys but as they describe their lives, their vulnerabilities come to light. Their discussions range from the building of the Berlin Wall and possibly escaping to the West, to child abuse,...

A woman born in 1949, the year the German Democratic Republic was founded, talks about her life based on 35 images in her family album that each represent one year. This short was to premiere on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of East Germany. Officials rejected the short, however, as an ostensibly negative portrait of GDR family life presented by an atypical woman. It was released under a different title a year later.

Filmed using an old hand-cranked Parvo L camera and radical montage strategies, this short is an experimental and alternative portrait of Karl Marx's family and their poor living conditions during their long years in London. Original personal texts by the philosopher and his wife combine with historical photographs overlaying images of an abandoned East Berlin building. This short was produced to celebrate Marx's 100th birthday in 1983, but officials...

East Berlin, summer 1989: A young East Berliner navigates the final months of the GDR. Enrico has quit his apprenticeship to focus on the punk band Sperrmüll (BULKY TRASH), which he founded with three friends from their high-rise housing development. Making music with what other people discard helps him let off steam and frustrations with his family, politics and his country. When his mother and sister move to West Berlin, he holds on to his beliefs...