
Rudolfine Steindling aka 'Rote Fini'
Opera Guest

Hans Westmann
Lawyer
Banker

Elfriede
Lawyer

Opera Guest

A short film dedicated to the first female pilot Leyla Mammadbayova. Leyla Mammadbayova, in addition to being the first female pilot of Azerbaijan, also took her place in history as the second female paratrooper of the USSR. The film illuminates the life of Leyla Khanum, full of struggle, in the years 1930-1933. The difficulties faced by women in an environment full of deprivation during that period, Leyla's refusal to wear the veil, her determination despite the condemnation of society, her husband Bahram's support for her struggle, and how this support led Leyla further forward are artistically reflected in the film.

This documentary about legendary French chanteuse Edith Piaf begins at her birth (which was helped along by a cop), travels through her turbulent romantic history, follows her to the pinnacle of her success and reports on her death. Piaf was queen of the torch song, her plaintive wail speaking volumes of the tragedy and joy she'd faced. Hers wasn't exactly, in the words of one of her famous songs, "La Vie En Rose," but it was quite a life.

This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin', Fritz the Cat, and played a major pioneering role in the genesis of underground comix. Through interviews with his mother, two brothers, wife, ex-wife and ex-girlfriends, as well as selections from his vast quantity of graphic art, we are treated to a darkly comic ride through one man's subconscious mind.

The Girl from Ipanema charts the progress of bossa nova (new wave), and the Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto's musical development and rise to fame. Best of all, at the end of the documentary the mature Astrud answers the question that must surely be on every viewer's mind: Was she sick to death of singing The Girl from Ipanema?

The incredible life of Jorge Semprún (1923-2011): son of a republican intellectual; exiled in the early days of the Spanish Civil War; survivor of the Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II; clandestine communist in Spain during Franco's dictatorship; controversial socialist politician; acclaimed writer, screenwriter and filmmaker.