Raphaela Film

Ekchart Schmidt examines the machinery behind the dream factory; the Hollywood myth is unmasked. How does the studio industry work? What role does marketing and the hype surrounding the stars play?

A documentary about director Budd Boetticher.

Budd Boetticher talks about the Ranown Cycle, a collection of low-budget westerns of the late 1950s.

Documentary about the 2004 movie 'Der Untergang' aka. 'Downfall'

Tragic and true stories about destiny and celebrity.

Daniel and Clara are on a vacation in Italy. In the form of the mysterious "Sandman" Coppola, a figure from Daniel's childhood, returns to haunt him, while he succumbs to an obsessive love with an enigmatic woman of strange beauty: Olympia, who might be far more than she first appears to be...

Documentary about Italian cinema.

Documentary about Hollywood.

Documentary about the Austrian director Fred Zinnemann.

Documentary about Los Angeles.

Documentary about the American actor Rod Steiger.

Documentary about Marilyn Monroe: 1962: America loses its blonde icon. Marilyn Monroe dies under mysterious circumstances. How did she die? The police report states: probable suicide. But there are many things that point to murder: a corpse draped too beautifully, an investigation that was cut short, evidence that disappeared. Plus Marilyn's affairs with the then US President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby. What really happened on that fateful summer night? After her housekeeper discovers the body, six hours pass before the police are called. She finds a beautifully draped corpse, sleeping pills in the blood but no pill residue in the stomach, witnesses who seem uncertain. The first investigator thinks about murder - and is taken off the case. Today no police files can be found.

Adaptation of "Der Prinz von Homburg"; recorded at the Bavarian State Opera.

Starting out as e-mail pen pals, Daniel and Laura soon fall in love. Only problem is that she lives in Germany and he lives in Los Angeles. When they finally arrange to meet in person, they discover that there is no chemistry between them.

Documentary about the history of German television.

Elke Sommer talks about her career in the film and music business.

Film noir, which enjoyed particular success in the 1930s and 1940s, is probably the most profound genre of classic Hollywood cinema. Eckhart Schmidt tries to show the background and developments and speaks, among others, with directors such as Richard Fleischer and Robert Wise as well as with "femme fatale" actresses. Filmmakers of the following generations explain how the style and themes of noir continue to shape cinema today.

Documentary about the director Budd Boetticher.

Documentary about the German composer Wolfgang Sawallisch

A parade of well-known actors and directors from Germany