If you look up The Condemned Village (Das verurteilte Dorf) on Wikipedia (either the English or the German version) you’ll find it described as a “propaganda film.”…… Read more “The Condemned Village”
Category: Concentration Camps
Held for Questioning
The backstory of Held for Questioning (Der Aufenthalt) is the story of a film that was made against all odds, by a director that DEFA had, essentially,…… Read more “Held for Questioning”
The Story of a Murder
The Story of a Murder (Chronik eines Mordes) begins during an event in Würzburg, where an attractive young woman meets with the newly-elected mayor and promptly shoots…… Read more “The Story of a Murder”
Marriage in the Shadows
Like Stars and Jakob the Liar, Marriage in the Shadows (Ehe im Schatten) deals with the subject of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. Unlike those films, however, this…… Read more “Marriage in the Shadows”
Jakob the Liar
There are a few East German films that, in spite of the political differences, are acknowledged as classics on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Stars, The…… Read more “Jakob the Liar”
Somewhere in Berlin
The East German film studio, DEFA, was founded in May, 1946. During the first few years in post-war Germany, it was, literally, the only game in town.…… Read more “Somewhere in Berlin”
Stars
For its first 25 years, two things kept the rest of the world from learning that East Germany was producing some of the best films in Europe.…… Read more “Stars”
Sun Seekers
In 1947, the Soviets began mining operations in the Schlema Valley in the southeastern region of Saxony. They called their mining company “Wismut,” the German word for…… Read more “Sun Seekers”
Your Unknown Brother
Your Unknown Brother takes place in 1935; many years before the GDR was established. Although it is ostensibly about the Nazi regime, the parallels to East Germany…… Read more “Your Unknown Brother”
Naked Among Wolves
Right from the start, the east was always more willing to talk about World War II than the west. After the war, East Germany had no vested…… Read more “Naked Among Wolves”
