Film Tours

Rebels with a Cause: The Cinema of East Germany

The Rebels with a Cause film series was the most comprehensive retrospective of East German cinema ever screened in the U.S.  Screened first at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in October 2005, it brought together scholars, directors and actors of the DEFA to present the films and reflect on the political complexities of artistic production in the East German state-owned DEFA studios.  These films were crafted by inventive filmmakers who dared to test the limits of censorship, and whose films’ political engagement and depth add to their creative merit in the context of film history.  For this series of 21 films, the Museum of Modern Art looked for a range of voices and styles from five decades of filmmaking, placing an emphasis on creative energy, artistic innovation, and challenges to authority – hence the title, Rebels with a Cause.  All titles on tour are on newly restored 35mm prints with English subtitles.

Shadows and Sojourners: Images of Jews and Antifascism in East German Film

The Shadows and Sojourners film series is the first North American retrospective of East German films representing the intertwined themes of German/Jewish relations, antifascism, and the Holocaust. Presenting unique views of the Jewish experience and critiques of Nazi Germany seldom seen by U.S. audiences, these classics of the East German antifascist tradition are hailed by the British Film Institute as "the most consistent and coherent analysis of fascism of any national cinema." Included are thirteen subtitled films that range in approach from focusing directly on the Jewish experience to exploring German guilt and the role of anti-Nazi resistance. Featuring such acclaimed German directors as Frank Beyer (Jacob the Liar, Naked Among Wolves), Kurt Maetzig (Marriage in the Shadows, Council of the Gods), Wolfgang Staudte (The Murderers Are among Us, Rotation), and Konrad Wolf (Professor Mamlock, Sterne), the series is suitable for screening at film festivals, cinemathèques and classrooms. Titles are available in
different formats, as noted, and can be booked individually.

Berlin, Divided Heaven: From the Ice Age to the Thaw

The city of Berlin has had a history unlike any other. Early in the century it was a world center of modernism, later the capital of Hitler's Third Reich. Then, after the city was virtually destroyed by war, the iron curtain was drawn through it. Berlin became a microcosm of the Cold War, as the capital of communist German Democratic Republic in the East, and an island city of West Germany, "cut off" from the Federal Republic. The fall of the Wall in 1989 and subsequent unification of Germany the following year began a new and challenging age for Berlin, now the capital of a "new Germany." While this change challenged all Germans, those from the East were most radically affected, as their country longer existed.

The DEFA Film Library is offering an intriguing selection of films that address Berlin divided and united with an emphasis on the East German perspective. The films on tour will offer a variety of perspectives on the history and people of this dynamic city, from the Berlin Airlift and the post-war openness of the divided city, to poetic images that reflect on urban identities East and West
and the architectural effects of unification turmoil. You may select just one, all, or a few, as they
contribute to your own emphasis. All titles on tour have English subtitles.