Wolfram Berger Movies

A nun must overcome a severe hearing impairment in order to find her place in the outside world in this well-regarded Swiss drama. Antonia (Emmanuelle Laborit) is a deaf woman in her late twenties who lost her parents as a child. With nowhere to go, Antonia was taken in by Verena (Renate Becker), the mother superior at a Swiss convent where many of the sisters have taken a vow of silence. When she was young, Antonia felt comfortable in these surroundings and came to join the order, but as she's grown older she begins to wonder if she made the right choice. Antonia begins doing volunteer work at a homeless shelter, where she meets Mikas (Lars Otterstetd), a petty thief and onetime carnival performer who is also deaf. Mikas boldly expresses his desire for Antonia, and to her surprise, she finds herself responding to his advances; the two become romantically involved, but their affair comes to an abrupt end when Mikas dies in an altercation with the police. Shattered by the experience, Antonia decides to sever her ties with Verena and the convent and travels to the United States, where she applies to study at Gallaudet University, an internationally renowned college for the deaf and hearing impaired where she can remake her life among others like herself. Emmanuelle Laborit, who plays Antonia, is in fact deaf and studied at Gallaudet University; in 1994, she published a book about her experiences as a student called The Cry of the Gull. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The story in this German language film takes place as its characters travel the autobahn. It begins with an unfortunate accidental reunion in the Berlin railroad station. Tom and Tina are two long-time homeless people who a long time ago, had a relationship until Tom walked out on Tina. On seeing him again, Tina is not inclined to forgive and forget. She knocks him out with her purse, and leaves. Tom is woken up by a frail, wealthy older gentleman who invites him to journey with him even after Tom steals his wallet. There is some promise of money at the end of the ride, and Tom goes along, hoping he can patch things up with Tina if he can get the money to make a new start. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

These days, things have gotten a little out of hand even in the Swiss countryside. At least, this is what Windleter (Wolfram Berger) thinks, on his farm in the mountains. Even the local girls are a little too forward for him. When he goes to Zurich on a brief jaunt, he visits a "girlie bar" there which showcases Asian girls. On the lookout for a suitable wife, he arranges to have a Thai farmer's daughter sent to him. She duly arrives a few weeks later, and things proceed much to his satisfaction (if not hers), since he is not interested in having sex, even after they marry. They pursue their rather unsatisfying lives together, but the suspicion and racism of their neighbors eventually grow out of control, with tragic consequences. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this imaginative Swiss actioner, an expert magician is hired to entertain world leaders at a peace summit. Unfortunately, he finds himself hopelessly entangled in an elaborate terrorist assassination plot. Now, the illusionist must utilize all his best tricks in order to escape and keep them from fulfilling their potentially devastating mission. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In an imaginative fantasy that has a certain punch at the end (though the "punch" may go on a bit too long), a burned-out sound-effects man starts to hear things -- sound effects -- when he is not working at his job. This is the first hint that something is not quite right, but not seriously odd yet. Then the man meets a colleague in a restaurant, and both are carrying their little black bag with them, filled with sound effect devices. Just for the sake of it, the men open up their suitcases and pull out their devices to begin a strange duel of sounds versus sounds -- with startling results.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Felix Stamm (Emil Steinberger) works at a match-making company that uses videotapes to bring together prospective couples. His gets more personally involved in his job than he would like, as he and his girlfriend Regula Koller (Franziska Oehme) find their own relationship affected by the people he meets through his work. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A small theater group is trying to put on a production of Voltaire's play Azire, a little-known work, in celebration of the 200th year of his death. They are unable to raise any funding, and the company's efforts are commented on from heaven by Voltaire and his buddy Rousseau. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Wilhelm Gustloff was a Nazi living in Switzerland in 1936 who actively recruited new members and supporters. Indeed, even with the hindsight of history, it looks as though he was preparing for a German takeover of Switzerland. His career was cut short when he was assassinated by David Frankfurter, a Yugoslavian Jew studying in Switzerland. It is entirely possible that the young student's act made it possible for Switzerland to survive the war as it did, virtually unscathed. Frankfurter, sentenced to a long prison term, was paroled immediately at the end of the war, and he moved to Israel. This movie not only re-creates the events surrounding the assassination and its aftermath, but also evokes the mood of uncertainty and fear which overshadowed that time. The end of the movie includes interviews with Frankfurter himself, taken in Israel. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide