Afire
Self-important author Leon joins his best friend on a summer holiday near the Baltic Sea to complete his novel. When they arrive, they find their house is already occupied by a carefree woman who challenges Leon to open up. Meanwhile, forest wildfires rage around them and impending disaster looms.
Der Darß - Küste der Kraniche
Hans Goetze is not just the mayor of the picturesque coast village Ahrenshoop, he is also a famous painter. His portraits of people and landscapes sell to tourists all over the world. But the most common object of his paintings are cranes, who have a protected living place on the island of Darss. Every fall, tens of thousands of these large and majestic birds gather in the shallow waters of the baltic sea to prepare for their migration to the south. The film covers a full year of living on the island of Darss with the cranes coming and going.
Jellyfish, The new Rulers of the Ocean
Jellyfish blooms are making headlines around the world. This is due to the damage they cause to tourism, fishing and our health. How can these creatures, which are over 98% water and have no shell, skeleton or brain, expand so rapidly? Although this is a normal stage in the life cycle of these gelatinous animals, we have to admit that blooms have become much more frequent and massive in recent decades. We're even witnessing jellyfish populations appearing in more and more regions where fish have been replaced by them, such as off the coast of Namibia, in the Black Sea, in the Sea of Japan and in certain areas of the Baltic Sea. What causes this? Why has the role of jellyfish in the ocean been underestimated, even though they outlived the dinosaurs? Are jellyfish on their way to dominating the oceans as they once did? What if they were to be the only ones left?
Ostseeparadies Rügen
The white chalk cliffs of Rügen are among the most impressive natural monuments on earth, which the painter Casper David Friedrich immortalized for posterity as early as the 19th century. Germany's largest island with its seaside resorts from the Gründerzeit, its smaller side islands and peninsulas that give it its shape, its lagoon-like Bodden waters, the dense beech forests, the yellow rapeseed fields and the meadows, the shady tree avenues and the white sandy beaches is not only a magnet for tourists, but also a unique natural paradise in the middle of the Baltic Sea, a habitat for the rare white-tailed eagle, fallow deer, raccoon dogs and badgers as well as a resting place for huge swarms of migratory birds such as geese and cranes that can be heard trumpeting from afar. In this nature documentary, the unique landscapes and the diversity of the animal world of Rügen are captured with beautiful pictures during the changing of the seasons.
The Pagan King
On his deathbed, the reigning king bestows power to an unexpected heir who must find strength within himself to unite his people against the violent crusades which threaten their freedom.
In the Shadow of Death
A group of men go under-ice fishing, but find themselves trapped on a piece of ice, that has broken off. As they are drifting through the sea, the tension between them rises.
Rügen - Weiße Felsen, grüne Wälder
Rügen is the largest island of Germany. Located off the Baltic Sea coast of Western Pomerania, two thirds of its area is protected. The green beech forests of the Jasmund National Park are considered an original virgin forest that is unique in Europe and are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. The white chalk cliffs, which can be seen from afar, are the island's distinctive symbol and were immortalized in the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich more than 200 years ago. On the small island of Vilm, which belongs to Rügen, there is another core area of nature conservation with a 500-year-old, untouched beech forest. Within sight of this refuge, organic farmers are trying to bring more diversity back to the fields. Small-scale agriculture with a great diversity of species has emerged between hedges, tree islands and biotopes. The documentary shows Rügen's natural treasures and introduces different people who have found their home here and are fighting to preserve nature.
Bus
This documentary follows a bustrip from Tallinn to Kaliningrad. A route that was so common in the Soviet times now passes through 4 different countries and crosses 3 different borders.
Sassnitz vs. Trump: The Dispute Over Nord Stream 2
Sassnitz is a small coastal town at the Baltic Sea on the Island of Rügen. In its vicinity are the world-famous chalk cliffs, a tourist magnet. The Mukran Port is also part of the municipality. The overseas port is the starting point for the construction of Nord Stream 2, a natural gas pipeline that connects Germany directly with Russia. In 2020, the port town hit the international headlines. Even the New York Times reported and cited Mayor Frank Kracht as a staunch opponent from the northeast German province against the rumbling America of Donald Trump. The reason is the undisguised threat from Washington to ruin the international port economically if the natural gas pipeline continues to be built from there. Many jobs and the region's economic stability are at risk. Reporter Klaus Scherer documents the case, questions experts as well as those affected and looks at the behavior of national politicians towards the USA and how they react to the interference in internal affairs.
Unmoored
A Swedish TV presenter finally confronts her domineering husband about serious accusations made against him, causing her well-ordered life to unravel.
The Glory of Life
Because of the power of love, the last year of Franz Kafka's life becomes his happiest. The well-known writer has never before been able to allow himself to experience intimacy, he suffers from tuberculosis and is dependent on his overbearing family. In the summer of 1923, he met Dora Diamant in the seaside resort Graal-Müritz on the Baltic Sea coast, where he is convalescing and she is working in a Jewish Volksheim. He is a man of world, the 14 years younger woman is from the deep East, he can write, she can dance. She has both feet firmly on the ground, he is always hovering a little above it. She embraces the indicative, he gets tangled up in the conjunctive. But the worldly wise Dora accepts him as he is. And he accepts her. Together they go to Berlin and when Franz's health deteriorates rapidly, to a sanatorium in Austria. They are granted a single year together until Franz Kafka's health deteriorates incurable. However their year together allows them to feel the glory of life.
Effi Briest
When 17-year-old Effi Briest marries the elderly Baron von Instetten, she moves to a small, isolated Baltic town and a house that she fears is haunted. Starved for companionship, Effi begins a friendship with Major Crampas, a charismatic womanizer.
Summer '04
A character study of a family on vacation. The emotional abyss and problems are behind the seemingly nice facade of an intact family as they experience guilt, love, and jealousy.
To Kill a Child
In a Swedish village, situated in a rural idyll, a father, mother and little daughter are preparing breakfast on a Sunday morning. The family is looking forward to the boat trip that is to follow. The little girl's thoughts are already completely on the water. But there is no sugar in the house, so the mother sends her little daughter to the neighbor across the street to quickly get some. Two villages further on, a young man is filling up his car with gas so that he can drive to the Baltic Sea with his girlfriend. In their convertible, the young people feel blithe and free on the country road and race towards the village where the little girl is just crossing the street with the sugar to return home.
We Dive at Dawn
A gripping tale of WWII naval warfare in the Baltics, starring John Mills as Lt. Freddie Taylor, a British submarine Captain. The crew of the Sea Tiger are summoned from leave on shore with their families, and sent on a secret mission to intercept the Nazi battleship Brandenburg. In the ensuing battle the British submarine is damaged by a German destroyer. The submarine is leaking fuel so badly that the crew won't be able to make it back to Britain before running out somewhere along the Danish coast. When it seems that their only option may be to blow up the submarine and try to escape to Denmark, seaman James Hobson hatches a plan...
The Poll Diaries
In 1914 on a family estate, Oda helps a wounded anarchist, and as their illicit friendship deepens, a family turmoil erupts as the war closes in.
My First Miracle
The world is full of miracles, especially during the shimmering heat of a seaside summer. While vacationing on the Baltic Sea coast, an unusually deep friendship blossoms between eleven-year-old Dole and Hermann, a man in his mid-forties. Standing on the threshold of adolescence, the girl rebels against her mother’s plans to move in with a new boyfriend, knowing full well that she has no desire to grow up. It all seems too complicated, requiring too many compromises. Hermann, a gentle family man who has never lost touch with his inner child, fires Dole’s imagination with his fantastical tales, while she brings color to his monotonous life. The two get along famously. A profound bond of kindred spirits develops between them, a love that endures beyond the holiday. Yet, back in their everyday lives, those around them are far from understanding. Without hesitation, they decide to run away together—back to the sea, the place where their fragile happiness truly belongs.
A Pirate's Heart
The end of the 14th century. Parents send the eldest son Jan to study in Hamburg, and the youngest - Klaus - to the monastery. No sooner had the children moved away from their homes, as on Klaus'es eyes the robbers kill their parents and burn the house. Only thanks to the loyal monk Wigbold Klaus managed to survive the shock. A few years later Klaus Störtebeker finds his brother Jan and his long-time friend Elizabeth Pren in Hamburg. From her, he learns that she is expected to marry Simon von Wallenrod, whose father Klaus suspects of killing his parents. But the Pranks and the Wallenrods are rich and respected people, and Klaus is a poor man. And now he becomes a pirate...
Silverwhite
Through four nonlinear but interconnected Finno-Ugric storylines, approximately 7,500 years ago, traces of the Kaalo meteorite – that struck the Estonian island of Saarema – left a profound mark on the peoples living along the Baltic Sea, shaping local myths and legends.
Südstrand
16 young people are doing their two-week lifeguard service on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn. They navigate between responsibility, belonging to a group and personal self-discovery, while more and more non-swimmers go swimming.