Historical Documentaries and Travel Series
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A Selection of This Month’s Documentaries and Travel Programs on German Kino Plus®
The Life of Bertolt Brecht: Dokumentarfilm, der anlässlich des 50. Todestages des Dichters und Dramatikers Bertolt Brecht ("Die Dreigroschenoper", "Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui") dessen Verhältnis zum Medium Film beleuchtet. Im Lauf seiner Karriere kam Brecht immer wieder mit dem Kino in Berührung, sei es durch die Verfilmung seiner Stücke, als Autor (etwa bei Fritz Langs "Hangmen also Die") oder als Regisseur. Die Dokumentation zeigt unter anderem Ausschnitte aus filmisch dokumentierten Bühnenwerken der dreißiger und fünfziger Jahre sowie Szenen aus Brecht-Verfilmungen. Den historischen Kontext liefern der Brecht-Schüler Peter Voigt und der Brecht-Archivar Erdmut Wizisla.
Sissi-Enigma of an Empress-Beautiful, romantic, tragic - Empress Elisabeth ("Sissi") of Austria-Hungary acquired her myth-making attributes during her lifetime. But over the years, myth has blurred reality and we no longer know who "Sissi" really was. In this documentary, the true picture of the enigmatic Empress has been reconstructed by several experts, including a criminologist, a psychotherapist and a historian. Their findings are not only surprising, but also bordering on the sensational. Two documents are examined here for the very first time: the diary of Elisabeth's mother-in-law and a 1921 feature film - formerly thought to be lost - whose script was written in part by Elisabeth's niece. The specialists question whether Sissi was truly bullied by her mother-in-law and forced to fulfill her courtly duties against her will. They try to determine whether she was merely shy or deliberately sought to avoid contact with her subjects. And they examine her cult of physical beauty, her constant travels and her love for Hungary. Shot in Bavaria, Vienna, Hungary, Corfu and Geneva - the major venues of her life's journey - this portrait lays bare the truth about one of the most idealized figures of the 19th century.
Shattering Silence: The Quandts are one of Germany's wealthiest and most influential families, whose globe-spanning corporate empire was significantly expanded in the late 1950s with the acquisition of BMW, now its most dazzling crown jewel. Yet the general public knows little about this family, and especially its connections with the Third Reich have always been taboo. Until today. Acclaimed authors Eric Friedler and Barbara Siebert scoured international archives for five years and have now disclosed the full extent of the family's involvement with the Nazis. Slave labor performed by foreign prisoners and concentration-camp inmates enabled the family to expand its empire and flourish handsomely under the Nazis during the war years – a success story that continued seamlessly in post-war Germany... Moving recollections of surviving forced laborers, devastating statements from a U.S. prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials, the crushing weight of documents – this is a high-voltage doc humming with shattering revelations. The program even prompted the Quandt family to finally break its silence: stating that it was "very moved," the family expressed the wish to have its history reappraised.
Salzburg Rediscovered: Salzburg, or “mountain of salt” is aptly named. Almost a thousand years ago, the white gold that flowed down from the Alps in the Salzach River provided the riches that created a wondrous cityscape of grand palaces, luxuriant gardens and majestic fountains that founded the cultural mecca that Salzburg is today. Home to the legacy of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the city boasts a tradition of theater, art and music on a par with any of the world's great cities. From the magnificent castle fortress of Hohensalzburg, which sits high above the city on sheer faced cliffs, the view takes in the many dozens of churches, castles and palaces that lend Salzburg its unparalleled grandeur. “Salzburg Rediscovered”, using imaginative and spectacular camera techniques throughout the four seasons, offers the viewers a perspective of the city impossible to gain as a tourist.
Experience the luxurious lifestyle led by the First Archbishop of Salzburg as he ruled the city from his soaring castle fortress…watch in amazement as the cliff workers rappel over the surrounding cliff's surface to knock off brittle stone…whether the nun at the Nonnberg Convent, the forester on the Kapuzinerberg, or the mechanic at Hellbrunn's water-powered theater, this documentary brings a hidden and fabulous Salzburg into the light…:
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