Elfi Mikesch Collection: Documentary Films

Elfi Mikesch, a cinematographer and director who has won numerous awards for her visual visions, is considered one of the early pioneers of feminist-queer cinema. In her documentary work, she focuses on people and projects that fall outside the bounds of the norm, telling stories of their search for identity and individual self-realization.

This collection brings together 5 documentaries and 5 experimental short films by an outstanding pioneer of subversive cinema from the past decades.

DVD 1 – Elfi Mikesch: Documentary Films  Vol. 1 (3 films on 1 DVD - English subtitles*)
I OFTEN THINK OF HAWAII (D 1978, 16mm, HD remastered, 82 min*, German Film Award 1978)
The film captures the dreams and everyday life of 16-year-old Carmen, who lives with her mother and brother in Gropiusstadt, West Berlin, and wants to become a dancer.
EXECUTION. A STUDY OF MARY (D 1979, 35mm, HD remastered, 25 min*, German Film Award 1980)
The story of Mary Stuart as a failed attempt at emancipation.
WHAT SHALL WE DO WITHOUT DEATH (D 1980, 16mm, HD remastered, 109 min*, Berlinale Forum 1980)
A poetic glimpse into life at a retirement home in Hamburg, focusing particularly on Käthe and Traute, who discovered their love for one another there.

DVD 2 – Elfi Mikesch: Documentary Films Vol. 2 (2 films on 1 DVD)
VERRÜCKT BLEIBEN, VERLIEBT BLEIBEN (D 1997, 16mm, 87 min, Duisburger Filmwoche - 3sat-Documentary Film Award 1997)
Torsten Ricardo loves riding the subway and spends every free minute doing so. In addition to this passion, he is a talented painter and actor. The film tells his story.
THE MARKUS FAMILY (D 2000, 16mm, 80 min, Berlinale Panorama 2000)
Markus Anatol Weisse is a painter with severe visual impairment who builds mechanical creatures and wishes he were a cyborg himself. The portrait accompanies him, also on his trips to Berlin.

DVD 3 – Elfi Mikesch: Documentary Films  Vol. 3 (5 films on 1 DVD)
GEFÄHRLICHE ORTE – 4 KURZFILME (D 1993-1995, 35mm, HD remastered, 75 min)
Four short films shot in locations that were battlefields during World War II and still bear the scars today. SOLDATEN SOLDATEN (14 min), GEFÄHRLICHER ORT (15 min), DER FLUSS (25 min), BOMBENWERFER (21 min).
WAR OR PEACE (D 2024, HD, 87 min, SDH + AD)
The film tells the story of a planned transformation of the former military base in Wünsdorf into an eco-campus.
Extra: Laudatory speech by Monika Treut on the occasion of the German Film Critics' Honorary Award for Elfi Mikesch (2026, Video 18 min)