GERM 265 - German Film in English Translation

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

(Same as FILM 265) Topic for 2018/19b: Cinema Behind the Wall: Films from East Germany. 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, films from the former GDR still offer a broad understanding of life during the Cold War in East Germany and the enduring legacy of this period in world history. The films from the state-owned DEFA studios are rich in themes, structures and styles; in beautifully crafted films, inventive filmmakers tested the limits of censorship and reflected on the political complexities of artistic production in the East Germany. The course explores a diversity of film genres and styles, including Westerns, musicals, and science fiction movies. We consider a variety of issues, such as continuities and breaks with Weimar cinema and the Nazi past; Communist Party politics and the succeses and failures of socialist realist aesthetics; gender and sexuality; consumer culture in a socialist context; the enduring cult power and nostalgia of DEFA films in Germany today; and questions of German “national” cinema after unification. Silke von der Emde.

Readings and discussions are in English, and all films have English subtitles.
Open to all classes.

Readings and discussions are in English, and all films have English subtitles.

Open to all classes.

Two 75-minute periods.