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DEFA Film Library Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Upcoming Events

October 2, 2023 Community

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30 years DEFA film library

September marks the 30th anniversary of the DEFA Film Library at UMass Amherst, the first and only archive and research center devoted to East German film culture outside Germany. To continue the anniversary celebration that commenced in early summer, the library will host special screenings in Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal and participate in discussion panels at conferences throughout this year.

On September 23, 1993, the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding and shortly after Professor Barton Byg prepared contracts with German partners that marked the official founding of the DEFA Film Library. In the three decades since, an enthusiastic team of faculty, staff and students has established the archive’s importance through groundbreaking film series, visiting artist tours, DVD and streaming releases with English subtitles, workshops, teaching guides and books.

“Over the last three decades, the DEFA Film Library has become an indispensable partner for scholars, educators and students not only in German Studies, but also in visual and media studies, art history, political science, women, gender and sexuality studies, history, and many other fields,” says DEFA Film Library Academic Director Mariana Ivanova. “We are excited to support both undergraduate and graduate students’ research via the Founder’s Fund and grow our partnerships domestically and internationally.”

Ivanova, who is also an associate professor of German and Scandinavian studies, added, “We will continue to provide a forum for socially and politically pertinent questions, such as marginalization and empowerment, social justice and equity, community building and climate activism. We are committed, above all, to the preservation and visibility of East German cinema for the decades to come.”

Among the upcoming events in which the DEFA Library will participate include:

German Studies Association Conference, Montreal, Oct. 5-7

During the three-day conference DEFA will present “HER VIEW: East German Women on Screen,” a DEFA Film Program at GSA Arts Night featuring short films by Helke Misselwitz, Petra Tschörtner and Gitta Nickel, and introduced by Victoria Rizo Lenshyn, DEFA Film Library associate director. DEFA will also host a roundtable discussion titled, “Teaching with DEFA Films Today: Borders, Gaps and Crisis,” announce the winner of the 2023 Graduate Student Essay prize and host a DEFA30 reception, which will include the announcement of the DEFA Film Library Programming Award for 2023-25.

Film screening of “Wozzeck,” at the Goethe-Institut, Boston, Oct. 18

Introduced by Jason Doerre of Trinity College, former program assistant with the DEFA Film Library.

Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, Philadelphia, Dec. 2

DEFA will present the panel “Beyond Racialization: Interrogating Blackness and Black Experiences in East German Cinema and its Legacy” and a screening of the film “The Homes We Carry,” with introduction and Q&A by Ivanova.

Article posted in Community for Public

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