GERMANY

1. THE LIVES OF OTHERS

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmark

Year: 2006

Awards/Recognitions:
Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film Winner

European Film Award Best Film

German Film Award Best Film

Summary:

The film involves the monitoring of the cultural scene of East Berlin by agents of the Stasi the GDRs (German Democratic Republic) secret police. 

Rating/Comments: 
Great in every aspect. Intelligent, sexy, honest, brave, and even life-changing.
9.7/10

2. SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS

Director: Marc Rothemund

Year: 2005

Awards/Recognitions: 
European Film Award Audience Award
German Films Award Audience Award
Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear Award for Best Film
Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film Nominee

Summary:
It is about the last days in the life of Sophie Scholl a 21-year-old member of the anti-Nazi non-violent student resistance group the white Rose part of the German Resistance movement. She was found guilty of high treason by the People's Court and executed the same day, February 22, 1943.

Comments/Reviews: 
The film is a bit uneventful but I am amazed by how much it seems to be eventful. I love the intelligence and belief of all the characters involved in this Germany's most important period in their history.
9.3/10

3. THE WHITE RIBBON

Director: Michael Haneke

Year: 2009

Awards/Recognitions:
Cannes Film Festival Palm d'Or
European Film Award Best Film
Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film 

Summary: 
 The events portrayed in the film are narrated as distant memories of the village schoolteacher. The screenplay focuses on the children in a village in northern Germany  just before World War 1 and their gradual understanding of political and religious terror.

Comments/Reviews: 
I love the sleepy and mysterious atmosphere of the whole film. I just wish more obvious coherence in everything but who I am compared to Michael Haneke?  See my complete review here
8.8/10


4. THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX

Director: Uli Edel

Year: 2008

Awards/Recognitions: 
European Film Awards Best Film Nominee
German Films Award Best Film Nominee
Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film Nominee
Golden Globe best Foreign Language Film Nominee 

Summary:
The film retells the story of the early years of the RAF (Red Army Faction), concentrating on its beginnings in 1967.

Comments/Reviews:
TBA

5. THE EDGE OF HEAVEN

Director: Faith Akin

Year: 2007

Awards/Recognition: Cannes Film Festival Best Screenplay Winer

European Film Awards Best Screenplay Winner

Summary:

The film is about a young German literature professor who is in search for the daughter of her father's woman who she has wronged.

Ratings/Comments:
TBA

6. DOWNFALL

 

Year: 2004

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Awards/Recognition: Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film Nominee

Chicago Film Critics Association Best Foreign Language Film Nominee

Goya Awards Best European Film Nominee

Summary: The film tells the final days of Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler as seen by the eyes of her secretary.

Ratings/Comments:
TBA