East German Cinema

DEFA and Film History

  • Authors
  • Sebastian Heiduschke
Book

Table of contents

  1. Front Matter
    Pages i-x
    PDF

  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 1-6

  3. East German Cinema

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 7-7
      PDF
    2. East German Cinema as State Institution
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 9-18
    3. Reciprocities and Tensions: DEFA and the East German Entertainment Industry
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 19-30
    4. A Cultural Legacy: DEFA’s Afterlife
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 31-40

  4. Freezes and Thaws: Canonizing DEFA

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 41-43
      PDF
    2. The Rubble Film, Wolfgang Staudte, and Postwar German Cinema: Die Mörder sind unter uns (The Murderers Are among Us, Wolfgang Staudte, 1946)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 45-51
    3. Fairy Tales And Children’s Films as Eternal Blockbusters: Die Geschichte Vom Kleinen Muck (The Story of Little Mook, Wolfgang Staudte, 1953)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 53-59
    4. The Gegenwartsfilm, West Berlin as Hostile Other, and East Germany as Homeland: The Rebel Film Berlin—Ecke Schönhauser (Berlin SchöNhauser Corner, Gerhard Klein, 1957)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 61-67
    5. The Birth of DEFA Genre Cinema, East German Sci-fi Films, New Technologies, and Coproduction with Eastern Europe: Der schweigende Stern (Silent Star, Kurt Maetzig, 1960)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 69-75
    6. Film Censorship, the East German Nouvelle Vague, and the “Rabbit Films”: Das Kaninchen bin ich (The Rabbit Is Me, Kurt Maetzig, 1965)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 77-83
    7. Renegade Films, Defa Musicals, and the Genre Cinema: Heißer Sommer (Hot Summer, Joachim Hasler, 1968)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 85-91
    8. More Genre Cinema, the “Red Western,” and Stardom in East Germany: Apachen (Apaches, Gottfried Kolditz, 1973)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 93-98
    9. Gender, Class, and Sexuality: Ending Taboos in Die Legende von Paul und Paula (The Legend of Paul and Paula, Heiner Carow, 1973)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 99-105
    10. DEFA and the Holocaust, the Antifascist Legacy, and International Acclaim: Jakob der Lügner(Jacob the Liar, Frank Beyer, 1974)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 107-113
    11. The Women’s Film, Konrad Wolf, and Defa After the “Biermann Affair”: Solo Sunny (Konrad Wolf, 1980)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 115-121
    12. Passed by History: Dystopia, Parable, and Bookend: Die Architekten (The Architects, Peter Kahane, 1990)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 123-129
    13. The Wendeflicks, Jörg Foth, and DEFA after Censorship: Letztes aus der Da-Da-eR (Latest from the Da-Da-eR, Jörg Foth, 1990)
      Sebastian Heiduschke
      Pages 131-137
  5. Back Matter
    Pages 139-196
    PDF

About this book

Introduction

East Germany's film monopoly, Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft, produced a films ranging beyond simple propaganda to westerns, musicals, and children's films, among others. This book equips scholars with the historical background to understand East German cinema and guides the readers through the DEFA archive via examinations of twelve films.

Keywords

Berlin cinema Europe fascism film film history Germany history Holocaust nation

Bibliographic information