Movies by Kurt Raab
Consistency Is Key

Bremen Freedom
A very stylized TV version of the Fassbinder play. The set consists of a few pieces of furniture in front of a large screen on which coastal scenery is back projected. Geesche is a nineteenth century woman who wants to have a mind of her own. She defies convention and will do anything to achieve her freedom from oppression by her family and friends. (synopsis written by Will Gilbert)

Cheaters
Swaying between pleasure and despair, Elric throws himself into his pathological passion for the casino. Meeting Suzie could have saved him, but the young woman also sinks into gambling hell. The couple then start getting involved in the fearsome world of professional cheaters.

Mathias Kneißl
Inspired by the real life events of Mathias Kneißl, a marginal man, son of poor farmers from Bavaria, in the late XIX Century. Mathias stole from the riches to give to the poor, becoming a hero for the rural people, and a popular social rebel. He was chased by the police until his unfortunate sentence.

Nur ein kleines bißchen Liebe
An early short by Wolfgang Büld, in which he wanted to depict the pleasant, mundane songs and movies of the 50s. The film was supposed to be like a song by Peter Kraus or Ted Herold.

Yearning for Sodom
Made during the last months of actor Kurt Raab, who died of AIDS in 1988. Raab, who had worked in both theatre and film, most notably with Fassbinder, was in the process of making a series of video sketches for a new production when he learned that he had AIDS. Despite his deteriorating health, and with the caring support of his friend Hans Hirshmuller, he carried on working. This tape is his last testimony. Awarded with the Adolf Grimme Award and Cinéma du Réel Award
Bolero
Pete is no stranger to success, delivering hit series as a musician in a rock group. When he parts ways with his band and produces his first solo LP, he learns for the first time what a flop means. He did not expect this. He is insecure and desperate, while Lena, his wife, accepts this low blow as a challenge. Jealously, Pete observes that Lena is becoming more and more independent and self-confident in her surroundings. At home there are arguments until everyone packs his bags. Alone with his longing and tenderness for Lena, Pete composes t...

Die Toten Hosen - 3 Akkorde für ein Halleluja

Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
Together with her bisexual friend and manager Stefan, singer Miko is working on a great career that has so far failed to materialize.

Warum die UFOs unseren Salat klauen
A biologist has succeeded in growing a particularly energy-rich lettuce and now the whole world wants to get hold of the product.

End of the Commune?
"End of the Commune"/"Ende einer kommune" is a great 49 min. long movie made in 1969 about Fassbinder and the early years of the legendary Antiteater he was a member/leader of. You can here see and hear some of the actors he was going to use in his movies for the next years. The movie shows rehearsals for his play "The Coffehouse" which also became a television-movie, and you can watch unique footage from the 19th Film-Festival in Berlin (1969) where "Love is Colder Than Death" were shown. As told in this documentary, his first feature-movie...
Dr. Margarete Johnson
The divorced and emancipated Margarete Johnson falls in love with her young and extremely medical bandaged nephew.

Frankfurt: The Face of a City
Bored with her stuffy village life, teenager Susanne decides to run away to the bright lights Frankfurt, while her boyfriend does his military. Caught in the swamp of drugs, prostitution, violence and human trafficking, Susanne experiences the dark side of the big city.