1945.E2.80.931989 East Germany Cinema of Germany

the legend of paul , paula (1973)

in total defa produced 900 feature films during existence around 800 animated films , on 3000 documentaries , short films. in years, production limited due strict controls imposed authorities restricted subject-matter of films topics directly contributed communist project of state. excluding newsreels , educational films, 50 films produced between 1948 , 1953. however, in later years numerous films produced on variety of themes. defa had particular strengths in children s films, notably fairy tale adaptations such drei haselnüsse für aschenbrödel (three nuts cinderella) (1973), attempted other genre works: science-fiction, example der schweigende stern (the silent star) (1960), adaptation of stanislaw lem novel, or red westerns such sons of great mother bear (1966) in which, in contrast typical american western, heroes tended native americans. many of these genre films co-productions other warsaw pact countries.

notable non-genre films produced defa include wolfgang staudte s adaptation of heinrich mann s der untertan (1951); konrad wolf s der geteilte himmel (divided heaven) (1964), adaptation of christa wolf s novel; frank beyer s adaptation of jurek becker s jacob liar (1975), east german film nominated oscar; legend of paul , paula (1973), directed heiner carow ulrich plenzdorf s novel; , solo sunny (1980), again work of konrad wolf.

however, film-making in gdr constrained , oriented political situation in country @ given time. ernst thälmann, communist leader in weimar period, subject of several hagiographical films in 1950s (ernst thälmann, 1954), , although east german filmmaking moved away overtly stalinist approach in 1960s, filmmakers still subject changing political positions, , indeed whims, of sed leadership. example, defa s full slate of contemporary films 1966 denied distribution, among them frank beyer s traces of stones (1966) pulled distribution after 3 days, not because antipathetic communist principles, because showed such principles, fostered, not put practice @ times in east germany. huge box-office hit legend of paul , paula threatened distribution ban because of satirical elements , supposedly allowed release on say-so of party general secretary erich honecker.

in late 1970s numerous film-makers left gdr west result of restrictions on work, among them director egon günther , actors angelica domröse, eva-maria hagen, katharina thalbach, hilmar thate, manfred krug , armin mueller-stahl. many had been signatories of 1976 petition opposing expatriation of socially critical singer-songwriter wolf biermann , had had ability work restricted result.

in final years of gdr, availability of television , programming , films on television broadcasts reaching gdr via uncontrollable airwaves, defa s productions importance reduced, although continuing role in producing shows east german television channel remained. following wende, defa had ceased production altogether, , studios , equipment sold off treuhand in 1992, intellectual property rights handed charitable defa-stiftung (defa foundation) exploits these rights in conjunction series of private companies, privatized progress film gmbh, has issued several east german films english subtitles since mid-1990s.