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Berlin Airlift: The Story of a Great Achievement is a film produced by the Central Office of Information (a British Government agency) to document the extraordinary events of 1948 and 1949 when thousands of tonnes of supplies were flown into West Berlin, thwarting Soviet plans to starve the city. If you were out and about […]
Test for the West: Berlin is a Silver Bear-winning documentary by Franz Baake that deals with the history of Berlin from the 1920s to 1962, focusing on the post-war events that lead to the Cold War. The usual milestones are discussed: the division of Berlin; the Berlin Blockade; the 1953 workers’ uprising and the construction […]
Released last month by Chronos Media GmbH to coincide with events to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Berlin, Spirit of Berlin is a collection of colour HD footage of Berlin in July 1945. There is something about the use of colour images that makes the utter devastation caused by a […]
No Angel – A Life of Marlene Dietrich is a 1996 documentary of the life of singer and actress Marlene Dietrich, who was born in Berlin, directed by Chris Hunt and narrated by Melvyn Bragg. The only copy of the documentary I have been able to find has some quality issues (it jumps at times) […]
The History Channel documentary Night of the Long Knives covers the events that took place over the space of 48 hours in 1934 when Hitler murdered many prominent SA and Nazi Party members that he perceived as a threat. The Night of the Long Knives is often referred to as the Röhm-Putsch because the SA […]
Virtual Reconstruction of Ripped Stasi Files is a documentary from Fraunhofer IPK, the company commissioned by the BStU (Bundesbeauftragten für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik or Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic) to develop the “e-Puzzler”, a tool for the virtual […]
Shown on the History Channel to mark the 15th anniversary of the fall of the wall on 9 November 2004, Declassified: Rise and Fall of the Wall is a documentary peppered with facts gleaned from then recently declassified files about events. The documentary starts with a famous quote* from Nikita Kruschev: I consider Berlin to […]
Alex Smetana produced his documentary, Playin’ Berlin, highlighting the streetball (think basketball pick up games) scene in Berlin with the support of Adidas. Basketball is like jazz because it’s a team concept but it gives the soloist space for self-expression. Playin’ Berlin offers an insight into the motivations and skills of some of the best […]
The tale of Gail ‘Hal’ Halvorsen and his role as ‘The Candy Bomber’ (or Rosinenbomber for Germans) dropping chocolate and sweets for the children of Berlin during the Berlin Airlift must be one of the most moving and uplifting stories of the Cold War. In 1948 as tensions in Berlin mounted and the Cold War […]
Ever since I first set foot in the city in 2009 I’ve been fascinated by Berlin and no matter how much I learn about my adopted home it seems there will always be a million and one fascinating facts or stories left to discover. Due to the significance of Berlin to the peace and politics […]
