Großes Kino made in DDR
In 2016, the DEFA (Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft/German Film Corporation) will celebrate its 70th birthday. This documentary film embarks upon a journey through the enthralling film history of the GDR. Highlighted in its wide-ranging and kaleidoscopic approach are the significance of the DEFA productions, the relevance for the GDR of film as a tool of propaganda, the sociopolitical themes foregrounded by these productions, but also the ordinary people who were projected onto the screen and celebrated as heroes and heroines by the DEFA.
Back then, the international interest was striking: in 1974, Jakob der Lügner/Jakob the Liar, a drama of the Jewish ghetto, was nominated for an Oscar; Jutta Hoffmann received an award at the Venice Film Festival for her leading role in the DEFA love story Der Dritte/Her Third; and the narrative of a love triangle Die Frau und der Fremde/The Woman and the Stranger received a Golden Bear at the Berlinale of 1985. The repertoire of the DEFA is multifaceted, and it has involved itself repeatedly in European co-productions.
In 2016, when the company celebrates the 70th anniversary of its founding, our documentary retrospect hopes to viewers with a fresh perspective, along with impressions of the everyday lives of the people who created the cinematic world of the GDR. In the end, the story of the DEFA is also an indispensable chapter of European film history.
