ARTE

Obsessively referring to the traumas and wounds that the Spanish civil war (1936-39) and Franco's dictatorship (1939-75) caused in their day no longer serves to explain the impassable abyss of incomprehension and hatred that the abject policies and radical positions adopted by both the right and the left in recent decades have opened up before the citizens of a country that is barely known beyond hackneyed cultural clichés.

A fascinating exploration of the literary — The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, by English playwright William Shakespeare (1604) — and lyrical — Othello, by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (1887) — myth of Othello, the desperately tragic story of a Moorish general in the army of the Venetian Republic whose absurd jealousy poisons his love for his wife Desdemona.

Paleolithic: a mysterious and enigmatic period. Hard to grasp from today's point of view. How did people live then, how did their communities function? What does the statue of the Venus of Willendorf tell us about them? ... The Venus of Willendorf, an ingeniously crafted 29,000-year-old statue of a woman, is a naked and sensual witness to the early Stone Age. Who does he represent? Is it a real depiction of a woman or an ideal? Is it a tribute to women mothers? Analysis of the famous statue and other archaeological finds from Austria and the Czech Republic shows that Paleolithic life was more diverse than previously thought, including the role of women, who very likely performed the same activities as men. They were hunters of big game and guardians of ancient knowledge. Take us back 29,000 years to people who were a lot more like us than we think.

Queen Elizabeth has worked with 14 Prime Ministers, including holding confidential weekly meetings. It is not known whether she has influenced her Prime Ministers, or what happens when they clash.

The contrasts between Marlen (Corinna Harfouch) and Fynn (newcomer Daniel Sträßer) couldn't be any more extreme if they tried: Marlen's apartment is packed to the rafters with objects too valuable or important to throw away, while Fynn plans to go through life with only 100 things in his possession. The fact that they can't keep their hands off each other and end up falling in love holds true to the old adage that opposites really do attract...

The first documentary about the legendary mime Marcel Marceau. He inspired several generations of artists, including his grandson and his family, who shed new light on his life’s work.

From the cabinets of curiosities created in Italy during the 16th century to the prestigious cultural institutions of today, a history of museums that analyzes the social and political changes that have taken place over the centuries.

No one really knows the exact details of Special Action 1005. How many people were killed by the Nazis in the rear of the Eastern Front between 1942 and 1944? There were at least tens of thousands. This is the story of how the criminals covered up the traces of their clumsy and savage crimes.

Thomas, a graduate in his thirties, is going to the unemployment office to find a job. In the search for a job advisor, he comes across an absurd world of self-employment at a congress held there, where one has to invent a job to find a place in the dystopian society.

A portrait of the actress Winona Ryder, the great muse of nineties cinema, who, although she has had an atypical and somewhat erratic career, has always offered performances as sensitive as they are honest.

Together with African small farmholders Tony Rinaudo, an Australian agronomist, has been fighting against the spread of the desert for 30 years and challenges ideas of conventional reforestation with his simple yet effective method.

The story of the life, loves and work of US writer Patricia Highsmith (1921-95), told through her unpublished diaries, her own voice and that of those who knew her, both family and close friends.

During the Cold War, many of those who tried to flee westward across the dangerous and blurred line separating communist Czechoslovakia from freedom were gunned down: the story of Europe's deadliest border.

January 1990: After they got deposed and the fall of the wall, Erich and Margot Honecker are virtually homeless. Because the government housing estate in Wandlitz got dissolved. The Modrow government offers no protection to the former dictator couple. Solely the protestant pastor Uwe Holmer and his family, who, like many others, have suffered under the GDR regime, offer the Honeckers refuge. In front of the parsonage, fierce protests take place, so that Pastor Holmer and his wife have to personally obstruct the primed for violence protestors. The half-hearted attempt of the Modrow government to accommodate the Honeckers in a state-own vacation home in March 1990 fails due to massive political protests and violent attacks against the motorcade. Once again, the Holmers have to take the couple in. All in all, for 10 weeks, the staunch socialists and the devout Christians are living under one roof in the parsonage.

Documentary about former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s political ascent and mental strength, featuring interviews with her and a variety of notable politicians.

Margarethe von Trotta, one of the few icons of German directing, internationally revered as a star director, celebrates her 80th birthday: her works are among the most important in German cinema of all time.