The cinema group started the new year with an important piece of German film history in tribute to the great actress, singer and author, Hildegard Knef. To mark her 100th birthday, the 1946 movie Die Mörder sind unter uns (The Murderers Are Among Us) was shown. It is considered one of the 100 most important German films and was the first feature film produced by DEFA.

The cinema evening on 14 January 2026 began with a glass of New Year’s sparkling wine in the foyer of the traditional Delphi-Filmpalast cinema. The movie impressed everyone, with the scenes showing the destruction of Berlin shortly after the end of World War II being particularly striking. Director Wolfgang Staudte dealt with the moral consequences of National Socialism and chose Hildegard Knef and Ernst Wilhelm Borchert as the protagonists. It was the first leading role for the then 21-year-old Hildegard, who soon became a big star. We followed the subsequent film discussion with great interest: Thomas Jost (Hildegard Knef’s manager), Adam Kerpel-Fronius (historian, Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe), and Dr. Jens Schöne (historian, deputy to the Berlin Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship) discussed the film’s relevance today with moderator Antje Bernhardt of bernhardt-bildung. Manager Jost shared a series of amusing anecdotes illustrating Hildegard’s notorious sharp Berliner wit.