DEFA at the Crossroads of East German and International Film Culture : A Companion

Motion picture production, distribution, exhibition and reception has always been a transnational phenomenon, yet East Germany, situated at the edge of the post-war Iron Curtain, separated by a boundary that became materialized in the Berlin Wall in 1961, resembles nothing if not an island, a protected space where film production developed under the protection of government subsidy and ideological purity. This volume proposes on the contrary that the GDR cinema was never just a monologue. Rather, its media landscape was characterized by constant dialogue, if not competition, with both the capitalist West and socialist East. These thirteen essays reshape DEFA cinema studies by exploring international networks, identifying lines of influence beyond national boundaries and recognizing genre qualities that surpass the temporal and spatial confines. The international team of film specialists present detailed analyses of over fifty films, including fiction features, adaptations of literary classics, children's films, documentaries, and examples from genres such as music, sci-fi, Westerns and crime films. With contributions by Seán Allan, Hunter Bivens, Benita Blessing, Barton Byg, Jaimey Fisher, Sabine Hake, Nick Hodgin, Manuel Köppen, Anke Pinkert, Larson Powell, Brad Prager, Marc Silberman, Stefan Soldovieri, and Henning Wrage.

Motion picture production, distribution, exhibition and reception has always been a transnational phenomenon, yet East Germany, situated at the edge of the post-war Iron Curtain, separated by a boundary that became materialized in the Berlin Wall in 1961, resembles nothing if not an island, a protected space where film production developed under the protection of government subsidy and ideological purity. This volume proposes on the contrary that the GDR cinema was never just a monologue. Rather, its media landscape was characterized by constant dialogue, if not competition, with both the capitalist West and socialist East. These thirteen essays reshape DEFA cinema studies by exploring international networks, identifying lines of influence beyond national boundaries and recognizing genre qualities that surpass the temporal and spatial confines. The international team of film specialists present detailed analyses of over fifty films, including fiction features, adaptations of literary classics, children's films, documentaries, and examples from genres such as music, sci-fi, Westerns and crime films.

With contributions by Seán Allan, Hunter Bivens, Benita Blessing, Barton Byg, Jaimey Fisher, Sabine Hake, Nick Hodgin, Manuel Köppen, Anke Pinkert, Larson Powell, Brad Prager, Marc Silberman, Stefan Soldovieri,  and Henning Wrage.

Acronyms Introduction. DEFA at the Crossroads: Remapping the Terrain Part I. Extending the Socialist Collective Chapter 1. Cinema and Socialist Modernity Chapter 2. Emplotting Antifascism: Heroes, Scoundrels, Traitors Chapter 3. Divided Loyalties: Technocrats and the Working Class in DEFA Films Chapter 4. Representations of Art and the Artist in East German Cinema Chapter 5. Family Feelings: Kinship, Gender and Social Utopia in DEFA Film Part II. Expanding the Reach of Entertainment Chapter 6. Not Only Entertainment: Sights and Sounds of the DEFA Music Film Chapter 7. The Trail Runs Cold: DEFA’s Crime Films Chapter 8. A Late Genre Fade: Utopianism and its Twilight in DEFA’s Science Fiction, Literary and Western Films Chapter 9. Public Figures, Political Symbols, Famous Stars: Actors in DEFA Cinema and Beyond Part III. Enlarging the Map Chapter 10. ‘Wind from the East’: DEFA and Eastern European Cinema Chapter 11. DEFA Children’s Films: Not Just for Children Chapter 12. DEFA Films for the Youth: National Paradigms, International Influences Chapter 13. Alternative Realities and Authenticity in DEFA’s Documentary Films Bibliography Selected Filmography List of Illustrations Contributors Index Although East Germany may have seemed like an island during the Cold War, films produced by DEFA were never just a monologue but in constant dialogue, if not competition, with both the capitalist West and socialist East. This volume reshapes DEFA cinema studies by exploring international networks, identifying lines of influence beyond national boundaries and recognizing genre qualities that surpass the temporal and spatial confines of the state. The Series: Companions to Contemporary German Culture, The series offers lively, comprehensive accounts of contemporary German culture written by experts and designed for advanced student readers and scholars alike. Both in monographs and closely-defined edited collections, it aims to introduce major authors, thinkers, filmmakers, literary topics, genres and landmark individual works, focusing on the period since 1989 but reaching back, where appropriate, to the vital hinterland of the 1970s. Book jacket