7 Great Movies from Hamburg
Absolute Giganten (1999)
The debut film of director Sebastian Schipper depicts three lads from Hamburg who spend their last night together before one of them takes up a post on an ocean liner. The film has been honoured e.g. with the German Film Award in silver.
A most wanted Man (2014)
Directed by Anton Corbijn, this international spy thriller is based on the bestselling novel by John Le Carré. The film co-stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Robyn Wright and Willem Dafoe alongside German big names such as Nina Hoss and Daniel Brühl. Film locations included e.g. the Alster Lake, the port of Hamburg, the St Pauli pub “Silbersack” and the historic Brahms-Kontor building.
Fraktus (2012)
A truly hilarious mockumentary on the German techno band of the same name. Directed by Lars Jessen, the film features Heinz Strunk, Rocko Schamoni and Jacques Palminger, all local heroes from Hamburg’s cultural scene. “Fraktus” quickly became a box office success in Germany.
Soulkitchen (2009)
Directed by Fatih Akin and set in the district of Wilhelmsburg, the comedy “Soul Kitchen” is widely considered to be THE Hamburg film. The “Soul Kitchen Hall”, an old factory building that provided the setting for large parts of the film, subsequently served as a location for various events and exhibitions. Due to structural deficiencies, the location was closed down in 2013, and the Soul Kitchen series of events has since been relocated to other venues.
Nordsee ist Mordsee (1976)
Young Uwe and his gang spend their time cracking slot machines and beating up foreigners. When the gang wreck the boat of young Dschingis, the boy puts up a fight and defends himself. The initial rivalry between Uwe and Dschingis turns into a friendship, and the two boys rebuild the boat and set off to the North Sea. This 1976 classic film by director Hark Bohm was largely shot around the area of the Wilhelmsburg train station and the Veringkanal.
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Große Freiheit No. 7 (1944)
This 1944 musical drama features Hans Albers as the former sailor Hannes, who is asked by his brother to look after his ex-girlfriend Gisela. In Hamburg Hannes discovers that he has feelings for Gisela. A boat trip by Gisela and Hannes, as well as several scenes on the St Pauli Landungsbrücken, at the Blohm + Voss shipyard and the Sagebiel Fährhaus were filmed in Hamburg.
Tore tanzt (2013)
The debut film of Hamburg-based director Katrin Gebbe and producer Verena Graefe-Höft has been described by various media as “contemporary, radical cinema from Germany”. This psychodrama was entirely produced in Hamburg and was the only German contribution to be represented at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.