FAVK016 Film and Ideology: GDR

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2009
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Jiří Voráč, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Sat 13:20–18:15 C34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course focuses on DEFA films as examples of ideologically determined productions in the freeze – thaw cycle; the films served as tools of the communist propaganda, tried to come to terms with the past and to address the society or to entertain the people. We are interested in crucial moments of East German cultural policy (consequences of the Eleventh plenum of the Central Committee of SED in December 1965 and the ban of so-called „rabbit-films“) as well as genre movies („red westerns“, musicals, sci-fi). We will discuss careers of selected artists (Kurt Maetzig, Konrad Wolf, Frank Beyer, Lothar Warneke, Manfred Krug etc.) and study representations of young people and women. Obligatory films (13): Kurt Maetzig: Das Kaninchen bin ich (I Am the Rabbit, 1965); Konrad Wolf: Goya (1971); Heiner Carow: Die Legende von Paul und Paula (The Legend of Paul and Paula, 1973); Frank Beyer: Jakob der Lügner (Jacob the Liar, 1974); Lothar Warneke: Einer trage des anderen Last (Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens, 1988); one indian film („red western“) with Gojko Mitić; one comedy; one example of the sci-fi genre; one DEFA movie in 70 mm format; other four films of your own selection. Main objectives can be summarized as follows: to understand relationships between ideology, the party leadership and the film industry in the model country of „real socialism“; to experience the DEFA films as a spectator; to know the „canon“ of most important films from the GDR; to analyze typical stereotypes in representation of youth and gender relationships; to discover ideological stereotypes in genre movies; to extend the knowledge base for historical comparison in the context of (post)socialist countries.
Syllabus
  • Introduction into the study of East German cinema, periodization.
  • The early years of the DEFA studios, Wolfgang Staudte, Kurt Maetzig.
  • Socialist realism, biographies of working-class leaders.
  • Political documents: Annelie and Andrew Thorndike.
  • The Eleventh plenum of the Central Committee of SED and „rabbit-films“.
  • Reflection of WWII and the antifascist resistance, Konrad Wolf, Frank Beyer.
  • Heritage films, Siegfried Kühn.
  • Musical comedies, sci-fi, red westerns and films for children.
  • Films about love, sex and gender, Heiner Carow, Egon Günther, Lothar Warneke.
Literature
  • PINKERT, Anke. Film and memory in East Germany. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008, x, 275. ISBN 9780253219671. info
  • Take two : fifties cinema in divided Germany. Edited by John E. Davidson - Sabine Hake. 1st pub. New York: Berghahn Books, 2007, vi, 250. ISBN 9781845452049. info
  • WEBER, Hermann. Dějiny NDR. Translated by Miloslav Korbelík. 1. vyd. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2003, 439 s. ISBN 80-7106-558-7. info
  • HAKE, Sabine. German national cinema. 1st pub. London: Routledge, 2002, viii, 232. ISBN 0415089026. info
  • The German cinema book. Edited by Tim Bergfelder - Erica Carter - Deniz Göktürk. 1st publ. London: BFI Publishing, 2002, xi, 291. ISBN 0851709451. info
  • FEINSTEIN, Joshua. The triumph of the ordinary : depictions of daily life in the East German cinema, 1949-1989. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002, 331 s. ISBN 0807853852. info
  • DEFA : East German cinema, 1946-1992. Edited by Seán Allan - John Sandford. 1st pub. New York: Berghahn Books, 1999, x, 328. ISBN 1571817530. info
  • Dictatorship as experience : towards a socio-cultural history of the GDR. Edited by Konrad Hugo Jarausch, Translated by Eve Duffy. 1st pub. New York: Berghahn Books, 1999, xii, 388. ISBN 1571811826. info
Assessment methods
Lectures, film screenings, seminar of 70mm films in Krnov, reading. Written test.
Language of instruction
Czech
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