The Priest of St. Pauli

A portrait of the people in '70s and '80s St. Pauli.

14-year-old Uwe lives in a suburban Hamburg housing estate. Besides trouble, the boy has not much to expect from his parents. To get his hands on some money, he prizes open vending machines, and to let out his frustration, he beats up "wogs". Among them is Dschingis, his nemesis. But one day, the rivals make peace. They become friends because they realize that they have the same problems and are driven by the same dreams and hopes.

Belgrade, 2022: A photojournalist is threatened by right-wing extremist groups in her Serbian home and flees to Germany with her daughter. But then she also experiences increasing strong threats and attacks in her new home.

Gibbi Westgermany is the name of a former sailor with a Mick Jagger look—leather jacket over the bare chest—who roams the Hamburg neighborhood St. Pauli homeless. His destination is a snack bar in St. Pauli run by his mother. But it is not the safe haven he is looking for.

When Jonas loses his job at a Hamburg startup company, he doesn’t have the heart to tell his girlfriend Katharina, as her nerves are already on the edge with her final law exams coming up. Every morning he leaves their flat and drift aimless through the metropole on endless underground rides. After a chance meeting with his former boss Marc, Jonas starts to observe the young manager. His curiosity gradually turns into obsession, small and bigger everyday lies become a kind of survival strategy for Jonas. While Katharina notices his increasingly odd behavior, Jonas is losing control over events more and more. Flood deals with feelings of powerlessness of the individual facing a growing competitive and performance pressure. The fear of failing in a perceived competition of life kicks off a spiral of wrong decisions, with no apparent way out. Georg Pelzer’s debut was shot basing on a 20-page plot description, dialogues and actions where improvised with the actors on location.

Wanda, a dominatrix who runs an S&M gallery on the Hamburg waterfront, must choose between her lesbian lover and an American trainee.

In the center of Hamburg, the discovery of an unexploded bomb from the Second World War not only leads to a far-reaching evacuation, but also to an interpersonal state of emergency.

A study of the alienated people who frequent the Ballhaus Barmbek dance hall, including an obese El groupie, an old man reciting poetry, two young women and a regular dance employee.

A day in the lives of a Hamburger couple Jan and Renate. A few days ago they moved to Wilhelmsburg. There they have to build a child's room, but they lack the money.

Arne and his younger brother Malte run the scrapyard they inherited from their parents on the outskirts of Hamburg and live a rather disoriented existence. One day, Malte finds an abandoned baby. He immediately takes the little one to his heart and wants to look after the child until he finds the birth mother. His brother Arne doesn't like the idea at all, but Malte wants to go through with the plan and even threatens to sell his brother the scrapyard. Disgruntled, Arne finally agrees and, as Malte is fully occupied with caring for the baby, sets off on a laborious search for the raven mother.

Hamburg, Germany, 1944, during World War II. A serial killer terrorizes the city. When it seems clear that the local police are unable to catch him, forces as dark and terrible as the criminal himself become involved in the case.

The sad morality tale of the Holstein blonde Renate, who, after being raped, leaves the farm to become a prostitute. In Hamburg she shoots the murderous pimp, in Instanbul she falls in with drug dealers, temporarily she falls for a released convict...