DEFA Film Library - The Cinema of East Germany

The DEFA Film Library at UMass Amherst will welcome thirty international scholars from July 7-14, 2013 to participate in its seventh biennial East German Summer Film Institute. This year's Institute, held on the Smith College campus, will explore East Germany's filmic relationship to the USA during the Cold War. Film screenings, workshops and readings will explore how films crossed the East/West border, carrying cultural representations and enabling personal and professional relationships as well as economic transactions.

Public events associated with the Institute include a keynote lecture, "The Cold War and the Color Line: The GDR and Black America," by UMass Professor Emerita Sara Lennox, and a PUBLIC FILM SERIES entitled Amerika & the GDR that includes the North American premiere of numerous films, including the DVD premiere of the first East German spy film, For Eyes Only—Top Secret (1963). Producer and author Reggie Nadelson (The Incredible Case of Comrade Rockstar) and director Jim Finn (Interkosmos) will introduce and discuss their films during the film series.

Major sponsors of this year's Summer Film Institute and public film series include the Max-Kade Foundation; the DEFA Foundation, Berlin; DAAD/German Academic Exchange Service; PROGRESS Film-Verleih and multiple UMass and Five College sponsors.

Our new catalog is here! This year we are happy to announce the DVD release of 6 DEFA classics! To see our complete catalog, click on the image.

For a hard copy, please contact us at defastaff[at]german.umass.edu

October 3 | From Ufa to DEFA - 10th DEFA Film Library Film Festival at GSA | Marriott Tech Center | Denver, CO
August 9 | TOXI | Black Germans Conference Amherst College| Amherst, MA
July 12 | Interkosmos, Intro and Q&A by Director Jim Finn | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 12 | This Ain't California | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 11 | Berlin – Schönhauser Corner | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 11 | A Ride to Schönberg | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 11 | Caterwauling | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 11 | Bockshorn | Smith College Weinstein Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 10 | Pilots in Pyjamas | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 10 | Pinocchio | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 9 | Torn Curtain | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 9 | Coded Message for the Boss | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 9 | Disco Film 5: In the Heart of US Military Espionage | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 8 | The Incredible Case of Comrade Rockstar, Intro and Q&A by Producer/Author Reggie Nadelson | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 8 | Against the Current | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 8 | Five Shorts: Leftist Americans in the GDR | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
July 7 | For Eyes Only – Top Secret | Smith College Graham Auditorium | Northampton, MA
May 12 | The Story of Little Mook | Goethe-Institut Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA
April 8 | Jörg Ratgeb, Painter | Goethe-Institut Washington | Washington D.C.
March 6 | Axe of Wandsbek | Goethe-Institut Chicago | Chicago, IL
March 5 | Rotation | Goethe-Institut Chicago | Chicago, IL
March 4 | The Blum Affair | Goethe-Institut Chicago | Chicago, IL
March 3 | Naked Among Wolves | Spertus Center for Jewish Learning & Culture | Chicago, IL
March 3 | Stars | Spertus Center for Jewish Learning & Culture | Chicago, IL
March 3 | Marriage in the Shadows | Spertus Center for Jewish Learning & Culture | Chicago, IL
February 17 | Council of the Gods | Spertus Center for Jewish Learning & Culture | Chicago, IL
February 17 | The Murderers Are Among Us | Spertus Center for Jewish Learning & Culture | Chicago, IL
February 17 | Professor Mamlock | Spertus Center for Jewish Learning & Culture | Chicago, IL
February 23 & 28 | The Fiancée | Gene Siskel Film Center | Chicago, IL
February 23 & 27 | Fallada—The Last Chapter | Gene Siskel Film Center | Chicago, IL
February 16 & 20 | Her Third | Gene Siskel Film Center | Chicago, IL
February 16 & 18 | Coming Out | Gene Siskel Film Center | Chicago, IL
February 9 & 14 | The Turning Point | Gene Siskel Film Center | Chicago, IL
February 9 & 11 | Jacob the Liar | Gene Siskel Film Center | Chicago, IL
February 2 & 6 | Solo Sunny | Gene Siskel Film Center | Chicago, IL
February 2 & 4 | Mama, I'm Alive | Gene Siskel Film Center | Chicago, IL
January 1 | Goya - Or the Hard Way to Enlightenment, 70mm | Film Society Lincoln Center | New York, NY
December 30 | Goya - Or the Hard Way to Enlightenment, 70mm | Film Society Lincoln Center | New York, NY

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If you have trouble finding anything, please call us at (413) 545-6681 or e-mail us at defa(at)german.umass.edu.