Counter Images: GDR Underground Films 1983-1989
(Gegenbilder)
Synopsis
Presented on this DVD is a selection of 10 films from the Berlin-based ex.oriente.lux archive, which contains almost 130 films from the fascinating and provocative Super-8 film world. These films were made between 1983 und 1989 by 10 young artists, musicians, performers and writers in the GDR. The Super-8 film format provided them with a new form of expression amid the rigidity of the political climate following the expatriation of singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann in 1976. Members of this underground scene produced their films outside official channels. In a country where all the art was subject to state control, the Stasi paid close attention to such films, and especially to the rebellious artists’ scene. Many of the Super-8 directors like Helge Leiberg, Via Lewandowsky and Cornelia Schleime are now leading figured in the international art world.
This collection includes the following titles:
- action situation (Helge Leiberg, 1983)
- 7x7 Facts about the Present Life of the Poet Tohm die Roes (Thohm di Roes, 1983)
- Samuel (Cornelia Klauß, 1984)
- Little Angel (Thomas Frydetzki, 1985)
- Necrology (Claus Löser, 1985)
- September, September (Gino Hahnemann, 1986)
- Draped in White (Cornelia Schleime, 1987)
- Report - A Comment on a Comment (Via Lewandowsky, 1987)
- Hello, Berlin (Thomas Werner, 1987)
- Konrad! The Mother Said (Ramona Köppel-Welsh, 1989)
Commentary
In a country where all art and access to art materials was subject to state control, the Super-8 film format provided underground artists with a new form of expression. This was especially important in the rigid political climate that followed the 1976 expatriation of singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann. As the bonus film The Subversive Camera makes clear, the Stasi paid close attention to such Super-8 films and to the underground artists’ scene.
The specific titles included in this collection were selected by film historian Claus Löser from a collection of almost 130 films archived at the Berlin-based ex. oriente. lux.
Press comments
“It's amazing (and gratifying) to realize that such 'subversive' films were made in the GDR.”
— Amos Vogel, Film as a Subversive Art
“Films of great originality and aesthetic achievement. These films present an important alternative to studio-produced images and provide a unique glimpse of a different GDR reality.”
— Reinhild Steingröver, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
“Great material from the pre-Wende era. GDR underground cinema was created in the sub-scenes’ biotope, on the edge of painting and writing.”
— filmvideo
Availability
- The Subversive Camera, dir. Cornelia Klauß, Germany, 1997, 42 min.
- Artist Biographies
- About the ex.oriente.lux. archive
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