Synopses & Reviews
East Germany's film monopoly, Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA), produced a breadth and depth of films ranging beyond simple propaganda to westerns, science fiction films, musicals, melodramas, spy thrillers, women's films, fairy tales, and children's films, among others. This book covers the entire range of filmmaking under the DEFA logo, from their beginnings in the Soviet Occupied Zone through unification and shows their continuing impact in contemporary culture. East German cinema offers the opportunity to see the complete picture of German film beyond Murnau, Lang, von Sternberg, and Fassbinder to equally important East German directors such as Frank Beyer, Wolfgang Staudte, Kurt Maetzig, and Konrad Wolf. In his analysis of twelve representative films produced between 1946 and 1990, Heiduschke illustrates the complex nature of DEFA's monopoly affected by domestic, international, and transnational dynamics and directs the attention to an influential, but often forgotten part of German film that bridged the cinemas of eastern and western Europe during the Cold War in surprising ways.
Review
To come.
Review
"Sebastian Heiduschke's
East German Cinema: DEFA and Film History is a concise and clearly written introductory text that offers the reader basic information on the film production context for some of the great classics of GDR cinema, produced by this now closed chapter of film history. Presenting an abridged history of the DEFA studio, Heiduschke discusses the ups and downs experienced by filmmakers as they negotiate periods of liberalization and repression." - Jan-Christopher Horak, Director, UCLA Film and Television Archive, USA
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
Sebastian Heiduschke is Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Oregon State University. He is the author of From Boring to Booming: Fan Cultures of East Germany's DEFA Cinema and German Cinema in Dialogue: Reading East and West German Film as well as the co-editor of DEFA: A New Reader of East German Cinema (with Seán Allan). Previously he taught at Montana State University, USA and the University of Texas at Austin, USA
Table of Contents
PART I: EAST GERMAN CINEMA
1. East German Cinema as State Institution
2. Reciprocities and Tensions: DEFA and the East German Entertainment Industry
3. A Cultural Legacy: DEFA's Afterlife
PART II. FREEZES AND THAWS: CANONIZING DEFA
4. The Rubble Film, Wolfgang Staudte, and Post-War German cinema: Die Mörder sind unter uns (The Murderers Are Among Us)
5. Fairytales and Children's Films as Eternal Blockbusters: Die Geschichte vom Kleinen Muck (The Story of Little Mook)
6. The Gegenwartsfilm, West Berlin as Hostile Other, and East Germany as Homeland: The Rebel Film Berlin - Ecke Schönhauser (Berlin Schönhauser Corner)
7. The Birth of DEFA Genre Cinema, East German Sci-fi Films, New Technologies, and Co-production with Eastern Europe: Der schweigende Stern (Silent Star)
8. Film Censorship, the East German Nouvelle Vague, and the 'Rabbit Films': Das Kaninchen bin ich (The Rabbit is Me)
9. Renegade films, DEFA Musicals, and the genre cinema: Heißer Sommer (Hot Summer)
10. More Genre Cinema, The 'Red Western,' and Stardom in East Germany: Apachen (Apaches)
11. Gender, Class, and Sexuality: Ending Taboos in Die Legende von Paul und Paula (The Legend of Paul and Paula)
12. DEFA and the Holocaust, the Antifascist Legacy, and International Acclaim: Jakob der Lügner (Jacob the Liar)
13. The Women's Film, Konrad Wolf, and DEFA After the 'Biermann Affair': Solo Sunny
14. Passed by History: Dystopia, Parable, and Bookend: Die Architekten (The Architects)
15. The Wendeflicks, Jörg Foth, and DEFA after censorship: Letztes aus der Da-Da-eR (Latest from the Da-Da-eR)