Lust am Leben - mit 103 in Amerika 2008
45 min. German TV (WDR)
A very personal documentary about Eva Ostwalt, a 103 year old woman who emigrated after WWII from Germany to the United States. In the course of her daily life she not only reveals the secret of her old age but also the story of her survival in a Concentration Camp to the filmmaker who has become her close friend.
The Love Letter Writer (Die Liebesbriefschreiberin) 1999/2000
45 min. German TV (WDR/BR)
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Jutta Bartky, an East German factory and office worker, found her new capitalistic niche writing love letters for her love starved and word challenged clients in a working class district of Berlin. (with Harald Beckmann)
One for All (Einer für Alle) 1999
45 min. German TV (WDR)
Documentary on the social and spiritual work of Germany’s only Protestant minister on Mallorca, Spain, an island overrun every year by 3 million German tourists. (with Harald Beckmann)
Trek to East Prussia (Treck nach Osten) 1997/98
German TV (WDR)
Documentary on the first German family allowed to return by the Russian government to their former homeland of East Prussia which was incorporated as part of the Soviet Union after WWII. The return of the Trautmann family is seen in Germany as a powerful signal for the possible recovery of lost German lands - yet with an anxious sense of foreboding by the people of Poland and Russia. (with Harald Beckmann)
An Angel from Moscow (Ein Engel aus Moskau) 1996
45 min. German TV (MDR/WDR)
Russian opera singer Valerie Fedorenko scrapes by with $100 per month and can’t earn enough on the stage in Moscow to make ends meet for his family of four. Pressed to make real money he goes to Berlin to play Russian folk tunes in the streets for Germans who like his music but not the idea that thousands like him might follow the lure of the Deutschmark. (with Harald Beckmann)
Three in America (Drei über’n grossen Teich) 1995
60 min. German TV (WDR)
Three young Germans work in the U.S. for “Aktion Sühnezeichen”, a German organization created to assist Jewish causes around the world.
(with Harald Beckmann)
The Night Shall Devour Them 1994
20 min.
Interviews with refugees in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina who are helped by the organization “Save the Children”.
Volga Dreams (Wolgaträume – Wolgaschäume) 1993
75 min. German TV (WDR/OBR)
Observation of German tourists on a Volga cruise from St. Petersburg to Kazan who travel to see the battlefields of their youth but instead come face to face with the somber realities of the new, post Soviet Russia. (with Harald Beckmann)
Poland Is Not Lost Yet (Noch ist Polen nicht verloren) 1992
60 min. German TV (ORB)
Chilling view of newly reunited Germany’s appetite for the land it lost to Poland in 1945.
(Lodz Film Festival, Lodz, Poland)
Kriya’s First Race (Kriyas erstes Rennen) 1991
20 min. German TV (WDR)
Children’s program on Kriya Dunlap, 10 year old champion dog sled racer in upstate New York.
Expectations 1988
60 min. PBS
Hour Special of a group of laid-off steel workers in East Los Angeles who set up the largest food bank in America.
(Golden Eagle Award, Washington, DC / Blue ribbon Award: American Film and Video Festival, New York)
The First Fight (Der erste Kampf) 1987
20 min. German TV (WDR)
Children’s program on a 10 year old boxer from Washington, DC who is getting into the ring for the first time.
The Unsettled Ashes 1984
60 min. WMHT Schenectady, NY
Oscar Pinkus, a Holocaust survivor, decides to go to Germany to testify against a Nazi war criminal.
Watch Me Now 1984/86
60 min. PBS, German, Irish, Finnish, & Danish TV
PBS Special on the boxing gym of famous trainer Cus D’Amato in Catskill, NY. Among his charges were the then 16 year old Mike Tyson whose first steps in the ring are chronicled here.
(Golden Ring Award & Jury Award, Golden Ring International Competition, Lausanne, Switzerland / Special showing at the Museum of Modern Art, New York / International Sports Film Festival, Paris, France / Anthology Film Archives, New York)
Henry Brant on the Nature of Music 1983
30 min. WMHT Schenectady, NY
Portrait of America’s foremost composer of spatial music.
I Don’t Matter - I Don’t Care 1982
60 min. WMHT Schenectady, NY and German TV
Documentary about aimless youths who consider their small town lives in upstate New York and who make some discoveries in the process.
(Jury Award, United States Film and Video Festival, Park City, Utah / CBS “Sunday Morning” National Video Festival, Washington, DC / The American Center, Paris, France)
American Trap 1982
60 min. WMHT Schenectady, NY and German TV
The story of two laborers in upstate New York who decide to live the life of their ancestors and become full time trappers and hunters.
(Video Center, Hamburg, Germany / Anthology Film Archives, New York)
Mary Lou at Saratoga 1981/82
30 min. PBS
A sort of humorous look at the world of socialite Mary Lou Vanderbilt Whitney during the Saratoga racing season.
In Daylight and Cool White 1981
30 min. WMHT Schenectady, NY
Documentary on artist Dan Flavin’s work with fluorescent lights in New York City.
Arvilla 1977
30 min. PBS Special, Swedish and German TV
The struggle of Arvilla Groesbeck, 62 year old woman farmer in upstate New York.
(The Museum of Modern Art, Tel Aviv, Israel / INPUT 79, Milan, Italy)
A Matter of Size - People and Power 1976
60 min. PBS Special
Lewis Mumford, Henry Steele Commager and Lester Thurow examine the question of governmental and corporate power in America.
Winterlillies 1976
60 min. WMHT Schenectady, NY and German TV
Portrait of Wilfred Robertson, farmer and primitive painter who works as his aunt, Grandma Moses, has taught him.
Stonewall Joe 1975
60 min. PBS Americana Series
Story of Joe Robertson, one of the last stonewall builders and old-time fiddlers in upstate New York.
