Alice in the Cities – 1974 – Wim Wenders

A charming and effortless road movie which sees the eponymous Alice, a nine-year-old girl, entrusted to a bewildered German journalist returning home from the US after an unsuccessful assignment. The pair have a lovely on-screen relationship and Wender’s fascination for trains, planes and monorails is marvellous. JJ

The Edge of Heaven – 2007 – Faith Akin

Akin, one of Europe’s best directors, sticks with familiar themes and territory, moving back and forth between Germany and Turkey with this ambitious ‘Traffic/Babel’ like movie. A series of tragic coincidences results in parallel narratives, which intertwine but never fully connect. It’s one of those movies that keeps playing even after you’ve left the theatre.
JJ

Run, Lola, Run – 1998 – Tom Tykwer

This manic race by the oddly named Franka Potente (as carroty Lola) through the streets of Berlin is a trilogy of ‘What If ?’ sequences. Also it can be seen as the forerunner to the 2006 world cup in the sense that it proved that Germany could be fun after all.
Sabine Wolf