Martin Trettau

Pianke (2026)

The story of a young German boy and his father who befriend a Jewish family during WWII. ...

Farssmann oder Zu Fuß in die Sackgasse (1991)

He could have had women, he could have climbed the ladder of his accountancy career, and he could have stood on the podium next to the highest in the land. If only he had wanted to! But Farssmann, shaken by divorce and unwilling to better himself, wants to ...

Eastern Cross (1991)

15-year-old Elfie literally and metaphorically inhabits a no-man's-land between the two Germanies shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The film deploys a neorealist aesthetic to reinforce the difficulties confronting the girl, and by inference, Germa ...

Imaginative King (1990)

Longing (1990)

Ena lives on a remote farmstead. One stormy night, hydraulic engineer Sieghart appears at her door after his car gets stuck in the mud. Although Ena falls in love with Sieghart, she decides to marry her fiancé Mathias. She is incapabale of hiding her true ...

Die ehrbaren Fünf (1989)

In a small Saxon town after the Second World War, the former chimney sweep Toni tries to survive on the black market and meets the pusher Ginfizz. Together they initially trade in flour before embarking on a riskier plan: they are to rescue machines from S ...

Everyone Dreams of a Horse (1988)

Everyone dreams of a horse - and especially four Kulman family children... ...

The Solo Sailor (1987)

Christine inherits a sailboat from her father, whom she barely knew. Christine is a divorced single mother and her job at a research insitute leaves her with too much work and too little time to sail. She can't find anyone to buy the boat at full value, so ...

Zwei leere Stühle (1987)

Twelve years after graduating from high school, Helmut Hausknecht's former class is planning a class reunion. Hausknecht, still a teacher, has heart problems. His former pupil, Wolfgang Lichtenfeld, now a senior physician and an excellent surgeon, operates ...

Jan Oppen (1987)

The Oppen family has lived in Berlin, Griesener Straße, for generations. The first names of the family members are also repeated, so the grandson Jan has the same first name as his grandfather. The Oppens' husbands have maintained a tradition up to now: t ...

Pelle the Conqueror (1986)

From Martin Anderson Nexo's novel comes this loved story of a Swedish boy and his elderly father trying to make a better life for themselves in Denmark. A bleak future quickly becomes apparent when the two find employment on a farm full of misery. ...

Die Gänse von Bützow (1985)

In 1794 Bützow, widow Hornborstel, a top goose breeder, presses Mayor Hane to marry her. Rebuffed, he bans free‐range geese under a "goose edict." Enraged, she enlists revolutionary‐minded Magister Albus to rally citizens. They rise for goose freedom, ...

Visiting Van Gogh (1985)

In the 22nd Century, antiquities command huge prices. A woman uses a time machine to travel back the the 19th Century in order to buy paintings from Vincent Van Gogh before he was famous. Will she be wealthy upon her return? ...

Der Lude (1984)

Berlin in the early 1930s. Bello is an unemployed young man who loves the underage Frieda. In order to earn a living for both of them, Frieda goes on the streets. An inspector from the political department takes advantage of this to blackmail Bello into pr ...

Weiberwirtschaft (1984)

Shortly after the end of World War II, young carpenter Achim is sent to a remote farm to do some repair work. Three women from different generations administer the farm on their own: Daughter, mother, and grandmother. There are no men around since grandmot ...

Bahnwärter Thiel (1982)

The film tells the tragic fate of railroad guard Thiel at the end of the 19th century. Thiel, who spends his days in the dull, monotonous fulfillment of his duties, has lost his gentle, quiet wife Minna. He remarries out of concern for his young son Tobias ...

Sabine Kleist, Aged Seven (1982)

Little Sabine has spent her childhood in an orphanage after her parents died in a car accident. When one of the women in charge at the orphanage, Edith, leaves to have a baby, Sabine runs away, because Edith was the only adult there she could trust. She th ...

Der entführte Prinz (1982)

The Just People of Kummerow (1982)

In a remote Prussian village, the shepherd Krischan with his fantastic stories is the attraction point for the children. One day they experience together how the Müller Düker beats his horse to death and intervene. Düker sues her for body injury at the ...

When Unku was Ede's Girlfriend (1981)

Ede falls in love with Unku, a girl from a travelling circus. Love cannot run smoothly however because Unku is a Gypsy. Various adventures take place before love is finally allowed to run its natural course. ...

Meines Vaters Straßenbahn (1980)

Ralph grows up in pre-war Dresden as the eldest son of a principled and orderly streetcar conductor. With the rise to power of the Nazis, the war, the collapse and the hesitant new beginning, his firmly established middle-class world is also thrown off cou ...

Einfach Blumen aufs Dach (1979)

Mechanic Hannes Blaschke and his wife Maxi, who works as a bus driver, have just become happy parents of twins. Now they have a serious transportation problem: Their Trabant is far too small for the grown family that furthermore includes two sons and a dog ...

P.S. (1979)

When he reaches age 18, Peter is released from the children's home where he grew up, but this does not mean he is truly ready for adult life. ...

Das Versteck (1978)

One year has passed since Max and Wanda got their divorce. Max has come to the realization that he wants his ex-wife back - no matter what the cost! So he concocts a sneaky plan: he asks Wanda to hide him from the police, who are apparently looking for him ...

Jörg Ratgeb, Painter (1978)

On the eve of the German Peasants' Revolt, painter Joerg Ratgeb is occupied by a crisis of his own: finding a model for a Christ figure. He sets off on a journey to consult with his artistic role model, Albrecht Dürer. Although Ratgeb has always tried to ...

Jugendweihe (1978)

Every year in the spring the pupils of the 8th grade in the GDR receive the 'Jugendweihe' and are admitted to the circle of adults. This year, Tim is ready. For him and his classmates, the day begins with a ceremony in the culture house, then he goes with ...

Mama, I’m Alive (1977)

In a Russian POW camp, four Germans determined to end WWII agree to pose as Red Army soldiers. Are they patriots or traitors, heroes or opportunists? Although they go to the frontlines, their new Russian comrades are initially unsure whether to trust them. ...

Die eigene Haut (1975)

Eighteen-year-old Wolfgang has just passed his A-levels and still has a few months to go before he has to start his military service. Instead of sitting around lazily, he wants to experience something during this time before the serious side of life begins ...

Mein blauer Vogel fliegt (1975)

Based upon a true story, the movie centers on the German communist Robert, a "Kapo" in a concentration camp. When some Polish children are brought to the camp, Robert tries to save them from certain death. Due to his efforts they are being trained as mason ...

Mein lieber Mann und ich (1975)

For her husband, who has become famous as an actor, Angelika is the go-to girl. For years, she stands in his shadow. The only things they do together are premiere parties and receptions. Angelika, who is becoming increasingly frustrated, finally wants a sa ...

Johannes Kepler (1974)

Europe, 1620: The well-known astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, who teaches as a professor in Linz, receives the message that his mother is prosecuted as a witch in Württemberg. The truth behind the allegations is rather simple: His mother has ...

Alwin auf der Landstraße (1974)

Ironically, at the beginning of the summer holidays, Alwins strict father has grounded him to get him to improve his spelling. Alwin feels like a prisoner and decides to run away heading to his grandparents in the Harz mountains nearly 200 kilometers away. ...

The Sinking of Emma (1974)

A funny adventures of a two young boys who are trying to rebuild the ship called "Emma" for their friend - the old captain. ...

Love at 16 (1974)

Although at first Ina barely takes any notice of Matti, the two teenagers gradually fall in love at their dance classes and begin their first real relationship. Their parents are upset about this development and try to prevent their children from seeing ea ...

The Naked Man on the Sports Field (1974)

Kemmel, a sculptor with a troubled nature, wonders, as he approaches his fortieth birthday, whether he has created any truly significant work. ...

Ripe Cherries (1973)

Helmut Kamp, the construction brigade leader, a man no longer young, life immediately confronted several difficult and woeful problems. The birth of a son, the tragic death of his wife, the relationship of his daughter Ingrid with Dr. Beißert coincided wi ...

Die sieben Affären der Dona Juanita (1973)

She is called Dona Juanita: the attractive young architect Anita Nachtigall, who manages a department on a large construction site with great success. She is said to have had many affairs and, so it is said, the death of a certain Sawallish. The evil after ...

Despite It All! (1972)

October 1918: Karl Liebknecht is released from prison and Berlin workers celebrate his release. Although WWI is almost over, the German Kaiserreich in vain sends its last reserves to the slaughter. The working class is in a rebellious mood; the uprising of ...

Verwandte und Bekannte (1971)

Using the example of three generations of a Hamburg working class family, the rise of the working class from the founding of the Wilhelmin Empire to the First World War, over the time of the Weimar Republic and National Socialism to the destruction of the ...

Verspielte Heimat (1971)

The deputy editor-in-chief of an SPD newspaper in West Germany, Karl Waldner, recognizes the former Henlein leader Meißner, who is guilty of the murder of his father, at a meeting of Sudeten Germans. He wants to open the case and hand Meißner over to the ...

Im Spannungsfeld (1970)

Electronic data processing is an absolute must in the Information Age. Karl Hoppe, the director of a large plant, is aware of this need for modernization and hires mathematician Dr. Jochen Bernhardt to install computerized systems which are supposed to cal ...

I Was Nineteen (1968)

A young soldier enters Germany with Soviet troops at the end of WWII, feeling like a stranger in his homeland. As he meets Germans, he grapples with his ambivalence, realizing he is both a victor and one of the vanquished. His inquisitive nature leads him ...