List of Films Set in Berlin

1980s

Berlin Alexanderplatz, 1980 - 1920s Berlin, film of the novel written by Alfred Döblin. Made for television film (in 14 episodes) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Solo Sunny, 1980 - Portraits the life of a girl singing in a band in East Berlin, directed by Konrad Wolf.
Berlin Chamissoplatz, 1980 - Love story between an older architect and a young student, set against the backdrop of the housing struggles in West Berlin. Director: Rudolf Thome.
Backhouse Bliss (Glück im Hinterhaus), 1980 - a fairly well-off librarian in his mid-forties with two children and a boring marriage in Berlin leaves his family for his intern. But the spark doesn't show up in his day-to-day life. Directed by Herrmann Zschoche.

Berlin Tunnel 21, 1981 - A former American officer leads an attempt to build a tunnel underneath The Wall as a rescue route. Directed by Richard Michaels.
Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, 1981 - 1970s portrayal of West Berlin's drug scene by Uli Edel.
Taxi zum Klo, 1981 - Groundbreaking film documenting gay culture in West Berlin by Frank Ripploh.
Possession, 1981 - A woman left her family and the husband starts following his wife to find out the truth. Directed by Andrzej Zulawski.
The Bunker, 1981 - depicting the events surrounding Adolf Hitler's last weeks in and around the Führerbunker in Berlin. Directed by George Schaefer.

Der Mann auf der Mauer, 1982 - a man in East Berlin tries unsuccessfully to get over Berlin Wall. After he is ransomed by the West-German Government, he wants for his beloved wife. Directed by Reinhard Hauff.

Octopussy, 1983 - James Bond film starring Roger Moore and directed by John Glen.
White Star, 1983 - a former rock 'n' roll band manager tries very aggressively to promote a young musician in West Berlin, but the punk audience does not like the synthpop-style music. Directed by Roland Klick.
Zille and Me (Zille und ick), 1983 - musical film using fictional episodes from the life of famous Berlin social-critical painter Heinrich Zille around the year 1900. Directed by Werner W. Wallroth.
Island of Swans (Insel der Schwäne), 1983 - a fourteen-year-old boy has to move from an idyllic small town to the developing area of Berlin-Marzahn where his father works as a construction worker and where he must find his way in a completely new environment and surrounded by strange people. Directed by Herrmann Zschoche.
Stadt der verlorenen Seelen, 1983 - by Rosa von Praunheim.

The Wannsee Conference, 1984 (TV) - German film about the infamous WWII conference in Berlin-Wannsee where the Final Solution to exterminate the Jews was planned. Directed by Heinz Schirk.
The Jesse Owens Story, 1984 (TV) - Biographical film of the life and times of 1936 Olympics star Jesse Owens, by Richard Irving.
Forbidden, 1984 - about a wealthy German countess who hides her Jewish boyfriend in her apartment in Berlin during World War II. Directed by Anthony Page.
Sigi, der Straßenfeger, 1984 - a street sweeper finds a box with 300.000 Deutsche Mark and a compromising photo of his boss what evokes several adventures. With Harald Juhnke, by Wolf Gremm.

Westler, 1985 - Telling the story of a homosexual student from West Berlin who falls in love with a guy from East Berlin. Directed by Wieland Speck.
Wild Geese II, 1985 - based on the 1982 novel The Square Circle by Daniel Carney, in which a group of mercenaries are hired to spring Rudolf Hess from Spandau Prison. Directed by Peter R. Hunt.
Dèmoni, 1985 - horror movie about people in a Berlin cinema transforming into demons. Directed by Lamberto Bava.
The Berlin Affair, 1985 - in 1938 the wife of a rising Nazi diplomat in Berlin falls in love with the daughter of the Japanese Ambassador and an artist. Her husband finds out and moves to break up the affair. Based upon the novel Quicksand and directed by Liliana Cavani.

Liebling Kreuzberg, 1986–1998 - Five series with altogether 58 episodes. Leading actor: Manfred Krug as a Berlin lawyer. Director: Werner Masten.
Meier, 1986 - comedy about a paper hanger in East Berlin who can buy a counterfeit West-German passport which he does not use to escape from East Germany but to provide his crafts enterprise with wallpaper material from West-Berlin. Directed by Peter Timm.

Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin), 1987 - drama about an angel falling in love with a human, which also concerns the divided city and its fate by Wim Wenders.
In der Wüste, 1987 - showing one day in the life of a jobless Chilean in West-Berlin spending time with his Turkish friend and searching for food and love. Based on a novel by Antonio Skármeta and directed by Rafael Fuster Pardo.
Reichshauptstadt - privat, 1987 - two-part docudrama about a man and a woman who meet in Berlin and look back on their love story in the fascistic Reichshauptstadt between 1937 and 1945. Directed by Horst Königstein.
Richy Guitar, 1987 - a young guitar player in Berlin wants to become a famous musician and attempts to establish a band. Featuring punk band Die Ärzte and singer Nena; directed by Michael Laux.
Claire Berolina, 1987 - portrait of Claire Waldoff who became a famous cabaret singer in 1920s Berlin and was close friends with composer Walter Kollo, writer Kurt Tucholsky and illustrator Heinrich Zille. She was an important part of cultural and lesbian life in Berlin until the Nazi Machtergreifung ended her success. Directed by Klaus Gendries.

Judgment in Berlin, 1988 - Based on the book Judgment in Berlin telling the story of the LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijacking from Gdańsk to West Berlin and the subsequent 1979 trial conducted in the United States Court for Berlin; stars Martin Sheen and Sean Penn. Directed by Leo Penn.
Linie 1, 1988 - Film of the 1986 musical about U-Bahn (subway) Line 1 in West Berlin by Reinhard Hauff.
Kai aus der Kiste, 1988 - during the hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic 1923 in Berlin a boy and his friends start a campaign of competitive advertising for an American chewing gum brand and use the resources of the metropolis for it. Based upon the novel by Wolf Durian and directed by Günter Meyer.
Das Mikroskop, 1988 - a software engineer in Berlin and his girlfriend, a flower seller, have problems with their relationship. He wants to take inspiration from a chance acquaintanceship but she fights for a real family with children. Directed by Rudolf Thome.

Coming Out, 1989 - deals with the process of the protagonists in East Berlin coming out as gay. Directed by Heiner Carow.
Der Bruch, 1989 - in 1946 several burglars want to break into the Deutsche Reichsbahn building in Berlin to steal money from the safe. Directed by Frank Beyer.
The Philosopher (Der Philosoph), 1989 - a philosopher in Berlin almost withdrew from the world to concentrate on his Heraclitus studies, having no relationship for eight years. When he wants a new suit for a lecture about his new book, he meets three sisters who share a house and invite him to move in to stay with them in polygamy. Directed by Rudolf Thome.

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List of Films Set in Berlin - 1980s