DEFA-Studio für Wochenschau und Dokumentarfilme

Das russische Wunder (The Russian Miracle) (1963) is a two-part East German documentary directed by Annelie and Andrew Thorndike. The documentary chronicles Russia’s dramatic transformation from the Tsarist Empire to the Soviet Union, covering key historical moments including the 1917 October Revolution and the rise of Soviet communism. Through the use of archival footage, the film explores the socio-political upheavals that reshaped Russia and culminates in the achievements of the Soviet space program. Produced by DEFA, it was first broadcast on East German television in 1963, offering an insightful look at Russia's 20th-century evolution.

A locomotive journey traversing the North to the South of the German Democratic Republic on the eve of its dissolution. Labourers, punks, mothers, intellectuals, young and old are implored to reflect on their life choices, the sacrifices they've made, and their place in the world. Despite everything, hope persists.

An international anthology about the struggles of female workers around the world.

A short biography of Arnold Zweig, through the lens of East Germany state media.

Documents important parts of the East German rock music scene of the late 1980s, from well-established bands like Silly, to underground rock bands like Feeling B. This road movie features young people using music to express their take on life, opposition to their parents' generation and opinions on the social and political climate in East Germany. It includes clips from concerts and interviews with fans and members of various bands, such as Feeling B's Christian Lorenz and Paul Landers, now members of Rammstein.

A documentary about the deconstruction of the Berlin Wall which makes no use of vocal commentary but instead focuses on visual elements. From the Potsdamer Platz to the Brandenburg Gate, the camera captures the historic events from all sides and different angles: on the one hand there are news reporters and tourists from all over the world taking pictures, children selling pieces of the wall to passers-by, and people celebrating New Year's Eve, on the other we see abandoned subway stations and officials with blank looks on their faces.

This first co-production between the GDR and Great Britain is intended to contribute to an understanding of the situation and attitudes of millions of working people in opposing social orders. Using the example of shipyard workers, fishermen, the brigade and family of a trade union active cook and unemployed person of various ages and professions in Newcastle on the one hand and a brigade of crane operators of the Warnowwerft and fishermen of the Warnemünde cooperative on the other hand, insights into the way of life and attitudes of people of our time are to be conveyed.

Erich Honecker visits the Republic of Zambia

In early summer 1989, Helke Misselwitz portrays young musicians in a band who produce their music on other people’s waste items. The four boys call themselves "Bulk Rubbish" and they drum out their resentment, having grown up on the new housing estates of East Berlin. A straight-up picture of the GDR youth is presented here, which in no way conforms to the official image. The film crew concentrates on the observation of the boy Enrico and his mother Erika: when the mother marries in the West, her son decides to stay in East Berlin, bidding her farewell at the border-crossing. Only shortly after, the tables are turned again: as the events in Berlin leading up to the fall of the Wall are practically captured live from the film crew, Enrico insists on maintaining his cultural identity, even after the fall of the Wall. The "Bulk Rubbish" musicians want to remain citizens of their own state and perceive the looming reunification with scepticism.

Documentary film about the agricultural and industrial district in Thuringia. The focus is on the district town of Erfurt, with Gotha, Eisenach and Weimar as other towns worthy of mention and steeped in tradition. This documentary, which has the characteristics of a promotional film, still bears witness to the wealth of its owners and the cities, but more than ever to all those who used their skills in the context of monument protection in the GDR to restore these buildings with their Gothic and Renaissance splendor and preserve them for posterity forever.

An East German documentary film using archival footage to attempt a connection between Imperial Germany, the government of the Weimar Republic, and the Third Reich to the government of West Germany at the time (1950s). Hence banned in West Germany for many years.

The age group in a group portrait of the fifth grade. They make suggestions for filming at school, in their free time and at home. Growing challenges through the lessons that bring knowledge and new questions and broaden their horizons.

The story of the Grünthal peasants' uprising against the commander who oppresses and exploits them.

Urlaub auf Sylt (Vacation in Sylt) (1957) is an East German documentary directed by Annelie and Andrew Thorndike. The film investigates the past of Heinz Reinefarth, a former SS general involved in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, who later became the mayor of Westerland on the island of Sylt. Using archival footage and contemporary interviews, the documentary exposes Reinefarth’s wartime crimes and critiques his post-war political career in West Germany. Produced by DEFA, the film serves as a sharp indictment of former Nazi officials holding public office after World War II.

Part 3 of the Wittstock series also shows the surroundings of the textile factory. Older gentlemen in a pub reveal that two factories produced fabrics for the military here during the Second World War. In 1945, only a handful of handlooms remained. The contemporary witness does not say why. It was probably too sensitive to reveal the reason on camera in 1978: The Soviet occupying power dismantled many production facilities in the GDR after the end of the war and transported them to the home of the victorious Red Army.

Director Junge was commissioned by the GDR in the country for the first time in the summer of 1970; his film In Syria auf Montage accompanies German engineers who train workers in the Homs textile factory. Shortly after filming ended, Hafez al-Assad put himself under the dictator. Twenty years later emerged ... the father stayed in the war over a youth club with Syrian orphans in Bad Saarow, whose fathers had died in the Lebanon war and accompanied them to Syria, where they were housed in separate, elite "schools of martyr children". Multi-faceted documents that oscillate between peaceful and tense, hopeful and unsettled.

This documentary details the life of Klaus Fuchs who was a spy for the Soviet Union while working on nuclear research in the United States and Great Britain. It also discusses the contributions of German scientists to the atomic bomb.

Revolution and resignation within the changes at the end of the GDR.

Portrait of a private coal company in East Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district in 1988/89. The feisty woman boss runs the business with humour and understanding. Her seven male employees respect her. To the outside world, they are all tough guys, but as they describe their jobs and personal situations, above and beyond the hard manual labour, their vulnerability starts to come to light.

Nine very private encounters with different people of the post-war generation and their memories of childhood and youth. Among others, the guitarist and singer Peter "Caesar" Gläser and the actress Christine Harbort. Roland Steiner asked his contemporaries about - "What we remember ...". All interviewees are as old as the state they live in. Nine CVs from the GDR are described. They have different professions, from skilled worker and scientist, nurse and saleswoman, actress or rock musician, even a minstrel is included. They remember what shaped them: Family, school, birthdays and hot summers, the happy moments and their own failures.