The Indiana University DEFA Project
Overview:
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and Europe was changed forever. The symbol not only of a divided Germany and a divided continent, but also of a global war of ideologies, the Wall separated everything from family members to worldviews. In Germany and beyond politics and culture had adjusted to this architectural intervention in urban space, and following its removal, Easterners and Westerners alike had to shift their perceptions, goals, and pathways to accommodate the new realities of unification.
The East German Cinema of the DEFA Studios (1946-1992) was hit hard by the transition from a planned economy to capitalism and to the preferences of Western audiences, and many of its last films never had the reception they deserved. Today German cultural politicians are fighting to preserve memories of life in the German Democratic Republic, and films have become a major source of popular knowledge about the past. The Indiana University DEFA Project charts a critical return to these volatile years and the complex and largely unknown cinematic oeuvre that they left behind.
Series:From January 17-April 18, 2010 the film series “WENDE FLICKS—Last Films from East Germany,” curated by the University of Massachusetts DEFA Film Library, will play at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater (until March 28) and on campus (April). Germanic Studies faculty and students will introduce the films each Sunday evening, and faculty from a number of university departments will join us for short roundtables and discussions with the audience after each screening. Recently furnished with English subtitles, the WENDE FLICKS will be free and open to the public. Please join us for this unique Bloomington event!
Symposium:On April 22-25, 2010, Indiana University will host the symposium, “Making Culture ReVisible: East German Cinema after Unification.” Filmmakers and cultural agents from the former German Democratic Republic will come together with leading North American film scholars, IU Germanic studies and related faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students to discuss: 1) the continuities and ruptures of cultural (and specifically film) production and film history in Germany after the fall of communism; 2) the relationship between historical events and artistic opportunity; 3) the role of cinema in shaping cultural memory; 4) the challenges of finding new audiences and contexts for this body of work.
Outreach:Throughout the semester and also during the symposium, the Department of Germanic Studies will be running an outreach project for high school German programs. It is the goal of this outreach to introduce high school teachers and students to important themes of 1989-90, the films of the WENDE, and to higher education at Indiana University.
Contact:Project Director: Brigitta Wagner
Co-Coordinators: Claudia Breger and Benjamin Robinson
Outreach Coordinator: Troy Byler
Current Sponsors:
DEFA Commission (DEFA-Stiftung)
Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany (Chicago)
College Arts and Humanities Institute
Office of the Vice President for International Affairs
Russian and East European Institute
To become a sponsor of this project, please contact:Jill Giffin (jigiffin@indiana.edu)
Department of Germanic Studies
Ballantine Hall 644
1020 E. Kirkwood Ave.
Bloomington, IN 47405
USA
