The retrospective exhibition of the Leipzig festival for documentary offered a historical view of the material: How the film looked-makers on the other part of Germany? Curator Ralph Eue on the view to the other side.
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FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
Federal Republic of Germany: economic and fashion
In the West, focused on the economic miracle: A Film like “Düsseldorf – Modisch, heiter, im Wind verspielt” (1961) overlooks a fundamental pillar of the Federal Republic of Germany: the free-market economy. And if a Director like Herbert Vesely directed, the counting of the perimeter of the innovative “New German Film”, came out of it far more than a flat Image-film cells.
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FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
Germany-industry: “The hot peace”
Also, Ferdinand Khittl belonged to the circle of those young Directors who wanted to invent the 1962 “Oberhausen Manifesto” the West German cinema. Khittl was reading the Manifesto back then. In Leipzig featured Essay of The Film “hot peace” of 1965 is a philosophical film about industrial production and, in the then unbroken belief in progress.
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FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
GDR: the culture of remembrance
In the other part of Germany was meanwhile, the memory of the Second world war, in the foreground, at least when it came to the presentation. A Film like “Fritz Cremer – Creator of the Buchenwald memorial” shows the artist in the creative process. He presents his work in the service of the state, and the raison d’etre of the GDR: anti-fascism as an ideological cornerstone.
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FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
DDR-perspectives: “The way up”
In 1950, a year after the founding of the GDR, shot by Karl Gass, and Andrew Thorndike, a Film to mark the anniversary: “The way up”. The title suggests where it’s going: The young East German state as a stronghold of the workers and peasants happiness: The country goes over the Junker’s hand in the farmer’s hand, the people at the Bank work for a “better” Germany.
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FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
Cinematic judgments: “From everyday life in the GDR”
So with DDR-film-makers on behalf of the state, the German neighbor in the West with cinematic Propaganda down tried reset, so, too, Regis developed in the Federal Republic of cinematic forms, to make the DDR look bad. “From the everyday life in the GDR” was created in 1971, portrayed the everyday life in the GDR was, of course, a little positive.
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FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
After the fall of the wall: “the Diner special”
Thomas Heise turned his half-hour Film, “the Diner special” in the transition period, when the GDR was in resolution. In the train station Berlin-Lichtenberg, people and. To listen in the Background always: radio news, reporting official achievements, and statements that do not match the reality. A fascinating historical document of the time.
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FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
Between hope and Propaganda: “The economic miracle tree”
The retrospective of the 62. Leipzig documentary and animation festival shows in ten thematic blocks, such as state television and other film-Client structure, and change in two German States have accompanied. You may also encounter whimsical, cinematic excavations, such as the three-minute campaign spot, the CDU’s “economic miracle tree”, a hymn to the free market economy.
-
FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
Federal Republic of Germany: economic and fashion
In the West, focused on the economic miracle: A Film like “Düsseldorf – Modisch, heiter, im Wind verspielt” (1961) overlooks a fundamental pillar of the Federal Republic of Germany: the free-market economy. And if a Director like Herbert Vesely directed, the counting of the perimeter of the innovative “New German Film”, came out of it far more than a flat Image-film cells.
-
FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
Germany-industry: “The hot peace”
Also, Ferdinand Khittl belonged to the circle of those young Directors who wanted to invent the 1962 “Oberhausen Manifesto” the West German cinema. Khittl was reading the Manifesto back then. In Leipzig featured Essay of The Film “hot peace” of 1965 is a philosophical film about industrial production and, in the then unbroken belief in progress.
-
FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
GDR: the culture of remembrance
In the other part of Germany was meanwhile, the memory of the Second world war, in the foreground, at least when it came to the presentation. A Film like “Fritz Cremer – Creator of the Buchenwald memorial” shows the artist in the creative process. He presents his work in the service of the state, and the raison d’etre of the GDR: anti-fascism as an ideological cornerstone.
-
FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
DDR-perspectives: “The way up”
In 1950, a year after the founding of the GDR, shot by Karl Gass, and Andrew Thorndike, a Film to mark the anniversary: “The way up”. The title suggests where it’s going: The young East German state as a stronghold of the workers and peasants happiness: The country goes over the Junker’s hand in the farmer’s hand, the people at the Bank work for a “better” Germany.
-
FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
Cinematic judgments: “From everyday life in the GDR”
So with DDR-film-makers on behalf of the state, the German neighbor in the West with cinematic Propaganda down tried reset, so, too, Regis developed in the Federal Republic of cinematic forms, to make the DDR look bad. “From the everyday life in the GDR” was created in 1971, portrayed the everyday life in the GDR was, of course, a little positive.
-
FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
After the fall of the wall: “the Diner special”
Thomas Heise turned his half-hour Film, “the Diner special” in the transition period, when the GDR was in resolution. In the train station Berlin-Lichtenberg, people and. To listen in the Background always: radio news, reporting official achievements, and statements that do not match the reality. A fascinating historical document of the time.
-
FRG & GDR: a retrospective at the Dok Leipzig 2019
Between hope and Propaganda: “The economic miracle tree”
The retrospective of the 62. Leipzig documentary and animation festival shows in ten thematic blocks, such as state television and other film-Client structure, and change in two German States have accompanied. You may also encounter whimsical, cinematic excavations, such as the three-minute campaign spot, the CDU’s “economic miracle tree”, a hymn to the free market economy.
In the year in which everywhere the fall of the Berlin wall is meant to be, wanted to put the Leipzig Festival other accents and not just to the 1989 focus. The Festival for documentary and animated film has always been the most important platform for documentary forms in the East of Germany, in a phased manner but in a spell of Propaganda. However, Leipzig has been able to claim after the turn its good reputation, today, it is considered the most important German Documentary film.
Prior to 1989
30 years fall of the Berlin wall is being celebrated far and wide. Also in Leipzig, where the peaceful Revolution began, was such a memory. However, Ralph Eue, together with Olaf Möller, the retrospective of 62. Edition of the festival supervised, schwante Evil: “As we planned, we were afraid to lag behind, then everything is already made.” So you did not focus on the images of the falling wall, but asked a different question: How have the west and East German filmmakers in the decades prior to 1989 (and thereafter) the other German state seen?
Ralph Eue
Ten topics were selected, each with a handful of films, the shorter and longer formats, documentary and animated – to always reflect with the claim that German-German sensitivities. A starting point of the film for the curators: “Actually, it is a double anniversary, namely, the founding of the two German States and the dissolution of the two German States”.
“Both States are in decline – the GDR and the FRG.”
The curators also a matter of conventional thought patterns to break through: “the history of The resolution will be told Yes, only the GDR has come to an end. We have invested in our preparation of the retrospective in a way that actually two States to the end of the previous, namely the two States, the FRG and the GDR.” It was the idea of this whole series. You have to tell, “how certain phenomena in the West or in the East, treated or processed have been.”
You came across great differences, but also surprising Parallels. To be expected: “In the GDR, there was to be a historical consciousness and an orientation to the history, which has contributed a large part to justify the raison d’etre of the GDR with keyword anti-fascism.” The mirrors of many GDR films in the Leipzig cons. In the early decades of thought in the documentary, cultural, educational and historical films, to the million Victims of the national socialists – and built on a cornerstone of the GDR’s state ideology.
A beetle for the world – “his own strength”
The GDR as an anti-fascist Stronghold
It looked in Germany in a different way: “In the West, the state would be potential for me to have been rather something you could call the Free and Social market economy, so more of a utopian future,” says EW. In the GDR, the “state entities from the past, from history, of those who have embodied this state or established”, had been built up. In the West, the so-called past had been hidden against management up to the end of the 1960s, there you have to leave “more on the economic power and the economic miracle”.
From Stalin to the city later in the ironworks city was
And the (involuntarily) be connected? What can be seen in the films of the Directors from the East and the West, that is not so far away from each other? Ralph Eue refers to two films in the retrospective, which act in a surprising way as two cinematic brothers: There is Huisken of 1953 in the GDR, the resulting Film, “900 days” by Karl Gass and Joop. The Film celebrates the construction and the inauguration of Stalin’s city (in 1961, renamed Eisenhüttenstadt) after 900 days of construction.
Volkswagen continued traditions from before 1945
In the West a year later, “on our own” by Franz Schroedter, of the banished the reconstruction of Wolfsburg and the Volkswagen-works on celluloid: “I hope that you axis since our intention in this dialectical Assembly of these two points of view on similar matters clearly recognizes, namely, post-war clear consequences,” says Ralph Eue. A similar message is conveyed: “The state has consolidated, the state is working on its own construction.” For him, quite a lot of pressures in these two film examples, “in what was the GDR and what the Federal Republic of Germany – both the Good as well as Bad on both sides.”
“Own-force” represented Germany in the world – as an image film for the German economy
Of course, differences in the respective views on fall: In the case of the East German film-makers of the review plays in the German history a decisive role – in the Federal Republic of Germany, the long-time falls away. It focuses rather on the cornucopia of the economic miracle.
Mutual dependency: “hostile brothers”
However, in the case of films such as “900 days” and “own-power”, it is striking just how close the two States are the same for all ideological and philosophical differences. Ralph Eue: “The concise (in the case of the preparation of the retrospective, A. d. R.), that two States are like enemy brothers who needed each other to each other to work through.”