Documentary footage celebrates the anniversary of the GDR's nationally owned cinematographic institutions with examples of their artistic and political significance.

1. The GDR invested millions of marks in their state film archives in Berlin, which constitute the second largest collection in the world.

2. In 1946, DEFA was granted the first film license given by the Soviet administration. DEFA's first production, The Murderers Are among Us, and the early DEFA documentary Sachsenhausen Death Camp are cited as an important examples of antifascist filmmaking.

3. The  recent DEFA documentary A Gentleman Departs is used to illustrate the ongoing problem of former Nazi war criminals occupying leadership positions in West Germany.