Hiddensee in the Baltic Sea has always been a place where people have sought freedom. This film takes us on a journey through an entire century, starting in the Golden Twenties, as it assembles the island’s scenery, history, and personal stories into a fascinating portrait. Then as now, the political upheavals that have swept across Germany have left their mark.

With her camera in tow, filmmaker Annekatrin Hendel settles into a hotel by the sea for four weeks; with her is her old friend Ines Rastig who, after her divorce and alimony battle, is now homeless. Room service may deliver fresh fruit every day, but it’s the moment of truth for these two women as they humorously and unsparingly scrutinise practical problems after the end of a long marriage.

2014 film by Annekatrin Hendel

Once with the Stasi, always with the Stasi? Once you were in the agent controller's grasp you could never escape - that's what they say, anyway. Writer Paul Gratzik was an unofficial informer for the GDR State Security Service for twenty years, broke with them in the 80's and exposed his identity. 'Vaterlandsverraeter' ('Traitors to the Fatherland') is a portrait of an exceptional man whose tumultuous life was propelled to extremes. Now more than 20 years after the end of the GDR, this is a story that was never told before.