Hannelore Kohl - Die erste Frau

The lower level of Lichtenberg Station in Belin in early October 1989: the beginning of the end for the GDR. In the snack bar, the staff are catering for travellers of every kind while in the background the authorities maintain a flow of triumphal statements, but those months between August and October come to feel like sitting out the death throes. Careful observation of people and their work as the current of history suddenly becomes perceptible.

What do you experience as a candidate in a state election campaign? This is what the filmmaker wants to know and accompanies a candidate with the camera for a year. See what he experiences in this documentary.

Angela Merkel's decision in autumn 2015 to open the borders for refugees split the country - some praised the moral stance, others criticized the surrender of sovereignty. Yet what would appear to be well-planned activity is in reality a policy of muddling along, chance, trial and error. The Driven Ones is a chronicle of the refugee crisis which shows that the political actors are being driven along, crushed between self-imposed constraints and events that have spun out of control.

The three protagonists play, eat and argue together. In this, at least, they are no different from other boys their age. But they are different in one crucial way, because nine-year-old Daniel and Habtom and Yohannes, both aged 12, live on the street, sleeping in an abandoned car on the side of the road. Without money or any form of adult support, they struggle to survive in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. And there are around 270,000 other street kids like them. The film records the three boys’ daily lives without being overly sentimental.

Love and desire fill the minds of villagers in a Hungarian speaking village in Transylvania, Romania, even in their old age. Time has stood still here, and although most of the village’s inhabitants are elderly, they are refreshingly young at heart.

Khalo Matabane spent two years making the film, interviewing those who knew and loved Mandela, and also those who criticised him. Global thinkers, politicians and artists including the Dalai Lama, Henry Kissinger and Ariel Dorfman talk about the effect of his policies and his decision making. Their thoughts are weighed equally with ordinary South Africans like Charity Kondile, who refuses to forgive her son's apartheid operative murderer. Through these interviews, completed in the last months of Mandela's life, Matabane interrogates for himself the meaning of freedom, reconciliation and forgiveness. By doing so he challenges Mandela's enduring impact in today's world of conflict and inequality. Thought-provoking and reflective, Mandela, the Myth and Me is a moving film which frames Mandela from a fresh, deeply personal perspective. (Storyville)

Inspired by films including "Rattle and Hum" and "Endless Summer," Fading West follows Grammy-winning alternative-rock band Switchfoot as they travel the globe in search of new musical inspiration and perfect waves. Filmed during Switchfoot's 2012 World Tour, Fading West charts the creation of the fivesome's upcoming album in its earliest and most unpredictable stages. As the band visits legendary surf breaks in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and Bali, brothers Jon and Tim Foreman breathe fresh life into their songs by harnessing the spirit of their surroundings and mining new emotional depths. Part rock documentary, surf film, and travelogue, Fading West offers rare glimpses of the longtime surfers on their boards, captures the frenetic energy of their live shows, and portrays a journey both epic and intimate.