Martin Roelly

Holy Dilemma

It tells the story of Robi, a priest and a father of three. It showcases how he deals with his profession and his forbidden private life.

Taming the Garden

Georgia’s former prime minister has found a unique hobby. He collects century-old trees, some as tall as 15-story buildings, from communities along the Georgian coast. At a great expense and inconvenience, these ancient giants are uprooted from their lands to be transplanted in his private garden.

Zuhur's Daughters

After escaping the war in Syria, a family learns to negotiate their new lives in Germany. But when the siblings begin to explore their transgender identities within their newfound freedom, their parents push back hard as they cling to strict religious and cultural ideologies.

Aftermath

Final part of a long-term observation of football talents trained at Borussia Dortmund in the 1990s. Three lives with, for and after the "favourite sport".

We Wanted More: The Miracle of Taipei

In 1981 establishing a women's national team was of no interest to the German Football Association. Therefore an invitation to the Women's World Cup in Taipei went to the reigning club champions from the small town of Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. In the film the former players talk about the absurd conditions in which they had to fight for their great dream of playing football. Accompanied by historical footage - testimonies of a men's world that today seem all the more anachronistic - the film tells a story that is about much more than sporting success, namely equality and recognition.

Acasă, My Home

In the wilderness of the Bucharest Delta, nine children and their parents lived in perfect harmony with nature for 20 years – until they are chased out and forced to adapt to life in the big city.

Dear Brother

Markus Becker is hit by a car, dragged along, his head bashed on a curb and he falls into a coma. The doctors don’t believe that the 45-year-old will survive the next five to ten days. His father makes preparations for the funeral. Markus’ brother Michael refuses to accept this fate and begins an extraordinary battle. In his brother’s apartment he seals Markus’ clothes to preserve the smell. He records the neighbors’ voices. Every day, Michael exposes his brother to things that are familiar and films everything that is part of Markus’ life with a DV camera. He wants to keep him in his world and to bring this world to his bedside. He documents every step of Markus’ development, risking his own life in the process, wishing that his brother will one day regain the ability to lead a normal life. This full-length documentary accompanies Michael Becker for 10 years on his unwavering and creative mission to bring his brother Markus back to life.

Searching Eva

This is the tale of a young woman, growing up in the age of the internet and turning the search for oneself into a public spectacle, allowing kids from all over the world to live their life through hers. Through her fragmented personalities you see the emergence of a new generation, in which the concept of a fixed identity has grown old.

The Green Gold of Africa

A documentary about the efforts to ban the global khat trade in Great Britain that routes its way from from war-torn Somalia to the streets of London.

A Woman Captured

A Woman Captured is about Marish, a 52-year-old Hungarian woman who has been serving a family for a decade, working 20 hours a day without getting paid. Her ID was taken from her by her oppressors and she's not allowed to leave the house without permission. Treated like an animal,she only gets leftovers to eat and no bed to sleep in. Marish spends the days with fear in her heart, but dreaming of getting her life back. The film follows Marish’s heroic journey back to freedom.⠀

In der Schwebe

Kilian (24) and Thomas (26) are successful poker players and part of a clique of German players who have met over the years during various poker events. Alternating between live and online poker they are in limbo between the daily ups and downs of the game, between winning and losing.