Thirty-five years after its dissolution, a stream of television films and documentaries continue to be made about the GDR, presenting the state solely as a brutal dictatorship demonstrating the failure of socialism.
Together with The German People, the documentaries The Moelln Letters and The Lie were met with great interest at this year’s Berlin film festival.
Late Shift in particular is a stirring tribute to an important layer of the working class that takes its work seriously despite adverse circumstances.
This year marks the 275th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s death. In December, over four million viewers watched the German TV film as a prelude to the anniversary.
Andres Veiel is the first filmmaker to be able to draw on materials from Riefenstahl’s extensive estate, which contains documents, letters and conversations she recorded, as well as masses of photos.
While selected areas—including the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, German filmmaking and broadcaster Deutsche Welle—are to receive more money, the six federal funds that support the independent cultural scene will lose around half of their budget: €14 million.
The recent Berlinale presented a series of German films from the postwar period as part of its annual Retrospective with the title: “An Alternate Cinema—From the Archives of the German Cinematheque.”
The awarding of the Golden Bear to the documentary by the French-Senegalese director Mati Diop is an indication that the dominant influence of identity politics in the cultural sector is losing ground.
With its portrayal of the young anti-fascist Hilde Coppi, Andreas Dresen’s new film recalls the varied forms of resistance to Hitler pursued by young people and working-class circles—so-called ordinary Germans.
After the outbreak of the new Israeli war against Palestinians a number of critics discovered antisemitism in the book and denounced Shibli as a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activist.
Several older films featured at this year’s Berlinale film provided real insight into the plight of immigrants in the 1970s and 1980s.
The new film adaptation of the anti-war classic is an impressive depiction of the horror of the First World War and the ruthlessness with which an entire generation were sent to the slaughter.
The Russian violinist Dmitry Smirnov, who has declined to make any public declaration on the war, has emphasized he is on the side of all those who build bridges.
The film ends like a shock video, as if the filmmakers wanted to cry out to the audience: “Watch out, the story’s not over, it is urgent to act!”
A highlight of this year’s Berlinale was the world premiere of the newly restored German silent film Brothers (Brüder, 1929), directed by Werner Hochbaum.
The response of the Social Democratic Party here, as in other areas of society, is typical. For many years the SPD has imposed austerity measures in cooperation with the trade unions while seeking to dissipate all opposition.
The new film, based on Erich Kästner’s novel, Going to the Dogs (1931), has had a successful run at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival and in German cinemas.
Burhan Qurbani has directed a new film adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s remarkable novel, Berlin Alexanderplatz, first published in 1929. The German filmmaker has relocated the action from crisis-ridden Weimar Germany to the present day.
Can love between siblings survive when a brother falls ill and needs care, while his sister enjoys life as one of society’s affluent? This is the question posed by the Swiss film My Little Sister.
A new staging of Beethoven’s Fidelio is a highlight in these times of lockdown and quarantine.
