This is not an academic lecture, but a journey into the strange, captivating, and utterly unique world of German cinema — from the silent masterpieces of the 1920s to the blockbusters of the 21st century. How Nabokov haunted Berlin film studios, hoping to strike it rich with a screenplay about a dwarf's love affair. How the director of the great *Metropolis* met with Goebbels and received an offer he could only refuse by fleeing the country. Which film Stirlitz watched six times, and what Germans watch every New Year's Eve. Why director Werner Herzog walked from Munich to Paris (a distance of 775 km!), and why a Bavarian sex comedy became an underground hit in the USSR. Plus: Angela Merkel's favorite film, the archbishop of Cologne's angry denunciation, and the most cinematic cucumbers. Igor Sadreyev takes you into German cinema, beyond the screen.