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Off-site Event: The Cold War and Divided Germany in East German Cinematography

Jörg Foth, DEFA Film Library, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Paul Werner Wagner, Independent Cultural Historian

Date & Time

Saturday
Nov. 20, 2010
1:00pm – 3:00pm ET

Overview

The Cold War and Divided Germany in East German Cinematography offers viewers a glimpse of some of the Cold War-era movies produced in former East Germany. The series features five movies released between the years 1950 and 1972, as well as one post-1989 production.

In The Latest from Da-Da-R, Steffen Mensching and Hans-Eckardt Wenzel – highly acclaimed East German poets, songwriters and comedians – satirize East German life in the historic year after the Wall came down through a series of cabaret pieces. The two clowns they play, Meh and Weh, are allowed to leave prison to sing for people outside. As they perform their pieces, however, the country sinks into rebellion, the prison is attacked and looted, and the people chase the clowns away. The title is a wordplay on the irreverent Dada art movement of the 1920s and the German acronym for East Germany – the DDR.

Cultural historian Paul Werner Wagner will introduce the movie. Joining the post-screening discussion will be the movie director Jörg Foth.

The event is hosted by the Wilson Center in cooperation with: The DEFA Foundation, Berlin; DEFA Film Library, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Goethe-Institut, Washington, DC; German Historical Institute, Washington, DC; Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington, DC; and The George Washington University.

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Hosted By

Cold War International History Project

The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program.  Read more

History and Public Policy Program

The History and Public Policy Program makes public the primary source record of 20th and 21st century international history from repositories around the world, facilitates scholarship based on those records, and uses these materials to provide context for classroom, public, and policy debates on global affairs.  Read more

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