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Cinema of Germany
Lists of German films
1895-1918 German Empire
1919-1933 Weimar Germany
1933-1945 Nazi Germany
1945-1990 East Germany
German films since 1945

Cinema in Germany can be traced back to the very beginnings of the medium at the end of the 19th Century. –This is a list of the most notable Films produced in Cinema of Germany. This is a list of the most notable films produced in the German Empire until 1918 in year order This is a list of the most notable films produced in Germany of the Weimar Republic era from 1919 until 1933 in year order The List of German films of 1933-1945 are divided into this timeframe to reflect the period of Nazi Germany, between the time that Hitler rose to power This is a list in year order of the most notable Films produced in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany and the socialist German Democratic Republic –This is a list of the most notable Films produced in Cinema of Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar German cinema has made major technical and artistic contributions to film.

Contents

Before 1918 - Cinema pioneers

The history of cinema in Germany can be traced back to the year of the medium's birth. On November 1, 1895 Max Skladanowsky and his brother Emil demonstrated their self-invented film projector the Bioskop at the Wintergarten music hall in Berlin. Events 996 - Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk Bishop of Freising which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Max Skladanowsky ( April 30 1863 &ndash November 30 1939) was a German Inventor and early Filmmaker. This article is concerned with technical aspects of moving film projection Music hall is a form of British theatrical Entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960 Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. This performance pre-dated the first paying public display of the Lumière brothers' Cinematographe in Paris on December 28 of the same year, a performance that Max Skladanowsky attended and at which he was able to ascertain that the Cinematographe was technically superior to his Bioskop. The cinematograph is a film Camera, which also serves as a Film projector and developer Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Other German film pioneers included the Berliners Oskar Messter and Max Gliewe, two of several individuals who independently in 1896 first used a Geneva drive (which allows the film to be advanced intermittently one frame at a time) in a projector, and the cinematographer Guido Seeber. The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as Oskar Messter ( November 21, 1866 &ndash December 6, 1943) was a German inventor and film tycoon in the early years of cinema The Geneva drive or Maltese cross is a mechanism that translates a continuous Rotation into an intermittent rotary motion Guido Seeber ( June 22 1879 in Chemnitz – July 2 1940 in Berlin) was a German Cinematographer and

In its earliest days, the cinematograph was perceived as an attraction for upper class audiences, but the novelty of moving pictures did not last long. Is a concept in Sociology that refers to the group of people at the top of a Social hierarchy. Soon, trivial short films were being shown as fairground attractions aimed at the working and lower-middle class. Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. The booths in which these films were shown were known in Germany somewhat disparagingly as Kintopps. Film-makers with an artistic bent attempted to counter this view of cinema with longer movies based on literary models, and the first German "artistic" films began to be produced from around 1910, an example being the Edgar Allan Poe adaptation The Student of Prague (1913) which was co-directed by Paul Wegener and Stellan Rye, photographed by Guido Seeber and starring actors from Max Reinhardt's company. Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, An adaptation is a characteristic of an Organism that has been favored by Natural selection and Paul Wegener ( 11 December 1874 &ndash 13 September 1948) was a German Actor, Writer and Film director Stellan Rye (1880 - 1914 was a Danish -born Film director, active in the early 20th century Max Reinhardt ( September 9, 1873 - October 30, 1943) was an Austrian (later naturalised American) theatre and film

Prior to 1914, however, many foreign films were imported. In the era of the silent film there were no language boundaries and Danish and Italian films were particularly popular in Germany. Danish cinema pioneer Peter Elfelt, a photographer was the first Dane to make a film The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had discovered the medium when Pope Leo XIII was filmed The public's desire to see more films with particular actors led to the development in Germany, as elsewhere, of the phenomenon of the film star; the actress Henny Porten was one of the earliest German stars. For other uses including various songs titled "Movie Star" see Movie star (disambiguation. Public desire to see popular film stories being continued encouraged the production of film serials, especially in the genre of mystery films, which is where the director Fritz Lang began his illustrious career. Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials or Film serials, were Short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a Feature Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of Crime film. Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang ( December 5, 1890 &ndash August 2, 1976) was an Austrian German - American

The outbreak of World War I and the subsequent boycott of, for example, French films left a noticeable gap in the market. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The cinema of France comprises the art of Film making within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad By 1916, there already existed some 2000 fixed venues for movie performances and initially film screenings had to supplemented or even replaced by variety turns. A variety show or variety entertainment is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts especially Musical performances and Comedy Skits and In 1917 a process of concentration and partial nationalisation of the German film industry began with the founding of Universum Film AG (Ufa), which was partly a reaction to the very effective use that the Allied Powers had found for the new medium for the purpose of propaganda. Universum Film AG, better known as Ufa or UFA, was the principal film studio in Germany, home of the German film industry during the Weimar Republic The Entente Powers (from Triple Entente) were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people Under the aegis of the military, so-called Vaterland films were produced, which equalled the Allies' films in the matter of propaganda and disparagement of the enemy. Audiences however did not care to swallow the patriotic medicine without the accompanying sugar of the light-entertainment films which, consequently, Ufa also promoted. The German film industry soon became the largest in Europe.

1918-1933 - Film in the Weimar Republic

In the period immediately following World War I, the film industry boomed, helped by the 1920s German inflation. The inflation in the Weimar Republic was a period of Hyperinflation in Germany (the Weimar Republic) during 1921-1923 This enabled film makers to borrow money in Papiermark which would be vastly devalued by the time it had to be repaid. The name Papiermark (paper mark is applied to the German currency from the point in 1914 when the link between the Mark and gold was abandoned due to the outbreak Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a Currency with respect to other monetary units Nevertheless film budgets were tight and the need to save money was a contributing factor to the rise of German Expressionism, as was the desire to move forward and embrace the future that swept most of Europe at the time. German Expressionism is the term used to refer to a number of related creative movements which emerged in Germany before the first world war which reached a peak in Berlin Expressionist movies relied heavily on symbolism and artistic imagery rather than stark realism to tell their stories. "Symbolic" redirects here For other uses see Symbolism (disambiguation and Symbolic (disambiguation. Vagina Imagery is used in literature to refer to descriptive language that evokes sensory experience Realism in the Visual arts and Literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in Everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation Given the grim mood in post-WWI Germany, it was not surprising that these films focused heavily on crime and horror. The film usually credited with sparking the popularity of expressionism is Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). Expressionism is the tendency of an artist to distort reality for an Emotional effect it is a subjective art form Robert Wiene ( April 27, 1873, Breslau – June 16, 1938, Paris) was Caligari redirects here For the company see Caligari Corporation. It painted a picture on the cinema screen with fantastic sets built with exaggerated geometry, images painted on the floors and walls to represent objects (and often light and shadow), and a story involving the dark hallucinations of an insane man. Geometry ( Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth metria = measure is a part of Mathematics concerned with questions of size shape and relative position Light, or visible light, is Electromagnetic radiation of a Wavelength that is visible to the Human eye (about 400–700 A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object A hallucination, in the broadest sense is a Perception in the absence of a stimulus. Traditionally insanity or madness is the behaviour whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to himself and others An exaggerated acting style and unnatural costume design are other trademarks of this movement. Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is often cited as an influence of German Expressionism. Edvard Munch (mʉŋk December 12, 1863 – January 23, 1944) was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, Printmaker The Scream ( Skrik, 1893-1910 is a seminal series of expressionist Paintings by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch Other notable works of Expressionism are Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's Nosferatu (1922), and Carl Boese and Paul Wegener's The Golem: How He Came Into the World (1920). Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, better known as F W Murnau ( December 28, 1888 &ndash March 11, 1931) was one of the most influential Nosferatu A Symphony of Horror is a German Expressionist film by F The Golem How He Came Into the World (original German title Der Golem wie er in die Welt kam) is a 1920 silent Horror The Expressionist movement died down during the mid-1920s, but it continued to influence world cinema for years afterward. German Expressionism is the term used to refer to a number of related creative movements which emerged in Germany before the first world war which reached a peak in Berlin Its influence is particular noticeable in American horror films and film noir, and the works of European directors as diverse as Jean Cocteau and Ingmar Bergman. Horror films are Movies that strive to elicit Fear, Horror and terror responses from viewers Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (5 July 1889 &ndash 11 October 1963 was a French Poet, Novelist, Dramatist, Designer, Boxing Ernst Ingmar Bergman ( pronounced) (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007 was a nine-time Academy Award -nominated Swedish film, stage

Ufa had been privatised in 1921 by a sale of the state's holdings to the Deutsche Bank and had become the mainstay of an industry that produced up to 600 feature films a year in the 1920s. Deutsche Bank AG (literally "German Bank" ˈdɔɪtʃə,) is an international Universal bank with a broad private clients franchise headquartered in In addition to Ufa, there were some 230 film companies in business in Berlin alone at this time. However, film industry financing was a fragile business in the unstable economy of the Weimar Republic, and this, coupled with the industry's tendency to overreach itself financially (such as in the production of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927), perhaps the most famous German film of this period), frequently led to bankruptcies and financial ruin. The term Weimar Republic ( ˈvaɪmarɐ repuˈbliːk is used by historians to signify the democratic and Republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933 Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang ( December 5, 1890 &ndash August 2, 1976) was an Austrian German - American Metropolis is a silent Science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and Thea von Harbou. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against Ufa itself was forced to go into a disadvantageous partnership called Parufamet with the American studios Paramount and MGM in 1925 before being taken over by the nationalist industrialist and newspaper owner Alfred Hugenberg in 1927. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and Distribution company, based in Hollywood California. The term nationalism can refer to an Ideology, a sentiment, a form of Culture, or a Social movement that focuses on the Nation Alfred Hugenberg (19 June 1865 - 12 March 1951 was an influential German Businessman and Politician. The company's financial travails did not prevent it from producing numerous significant films throughout this period, among them, Ernst Lubitsch's Madame Dubary (1919), Lang's epic production of Die Nibelungen, and Murnau's The Last Laugh (1925), and the development of the studios at Babelsberg, originally established in 1912 but later taken over by Ufa and expanded massively to accommodate the filming of Metropolis, gave the German film industry a highly-developed infrastructure. Ernst Lubitsch ( January 28, 1892 – November 30, 1947) was a German -born Jewish Film director. Die Nibelungen is a Duology of silent Fantasy films created by Austrian director Fritz Lang in 1924: The Last Laugh ( Der letzte Mann) is a German 1924 Silent film directed by German director F The Babelsberg Studios, located in Potsdam - Babelsberg, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world Infrastructure typically refers to the technical structures that support a society such as Roads Water supply, Wastewater, Power grids

In addition to developments in the industry itself, the Weimar period saw the birth of film criticism as a serious discipline whose practitioners included Rudolf Arnheim in Die Weltbühne and in Film als Kunst (1932), Béla Balázs in Der Sichtbare Mensch (1924), Siegfried Kracauer in the Frankfurter Zeitung, and Lotte H. Eisner in the Filmkurier. Film review redirects here for the similar sounding Film revue please visit Revue#Film revues. Rudolf Arnheim ( July 15, 1904 &ndash June 9, 2007) was a German -born author art and Film theorist and perceptual psychologist Die Weltbühne (English "The World Stage" was a German weekly magazine focused on politics art and business Béla Balázs ( 4 August 1884, Szeged – 17 May 1949, Budapest) born Herbert Bauer, was a Hungarian Siegfried Kracauer ( February 8, 1889, Frankfurt am Main &ndash November 26, 1966, New York) was a German The Frankfurter Zeitung was a German language Newspaper that appeared from 1856 to 1943 Lotte H Eisner ( 5 March, 1896 - 25 November, 1983) was a French-German film critic historian writer and poet

After the influence of Expressionism began to wane a variety of other genres and styles developed in the 1920s. Movies influenced by New Objectivity with socially concerned themes and a return to realism, among them films by Georg Wilhelm Pabst such as Joyless Street (Die Freudlose Gasse) (1925), Pandora's Box (1929), and The Loves of Gene became widespread in the later 1920s. The New Objectivity, or Neue Sachlichkeit (new dispassion was an art movement that arose in Germany in the early 1920s as an outgrowth of and in opposition to Georg Wilhelm Pabst ( August 25, 1885 - May 29, 1967) was an Austrian Film director. For the Greek myth see Pandora. For other uses see Pandora (disambiguation and Pandora's box (disambiguation Pandora's The movement is best characterized by tendency to understand reality and characters in terms of inanimate objects and personal possessions. Often associated with "street films. " The influence of New Objectivity may also be seen in the trend towards so-called "asphalt" and "morality" films which dealt with "scandalous" subjects like abortion, prostitution, homosexuality and addiction. An Prostitution is the act of performing Sexual activity in exchange for Money. Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. The term " addiction " is used in many contexts to describe an obsession compulsion or excessive Physical dependence or psychological dependence such as Contrastingly, in the same period the genre of the Bergfilm was also developed, mainly by the director Arnold Fanck, in which individuals were shown battling against nature in the mountains. A mountain film is a Film genre that focuses on Mountaineering and especially the battle of man against nature Arnold Fanck ( 6 March 1889 in Frankenthal, Germany – 28 September 1974 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Animators and directors of experimental film such as Lotte Reiniger, Oskar Fischinger and Walter Ruttmann were also very active in Germany in the 1920s. An animator is an Artist who creates multiple images called frames and Key frames that form an illusion of movement called Animation when rapidly displayed This article is on the variety of film For information on the They Might Be Giants song see " Experimental Film (song " Charlotte (Lotte Reiniger ( June 2, 1899 - June 19, 1981) was a German (and later a British) silhouette animator Oskar Fischinger ( 22 June 1900, Gelnhausen, Germany — 31 January 1967, Los Angeles) was an abstract animator Walter Ruttmann ( December 28 1887 &ndash July 15 1941) was a German Film director and along with Hans Richter and Ruttman's experimental documentary Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (1927) epitomises the energy of 1920s Berlin. Berlin Symphony of a Great City (German Berlin Die Sinfonie der Großstadt) a 1927 German Silent film directed by Walter The polarised politics of the Weimar period were also reflected in some its movies. Weimar Republic refers to the years (1919-1933 in the German history A series of patriotic films on Prussian history starring Otto Gebühr as Frederick the Great were produced throughout the 1920s and were popular with the nationalist right-wing, who strongly criticised the "asphalt" films' "decadence". Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state Frederick II (Friedrich II January 24 1712 August 17 1786) was a King of Prussia (1740&ndash1786 from the

Many of the films during that came out of Germany at this time were historical spectacles designed to pull in a large crowd and international release all while adhering to a smaller budget. Ernst Lubitsch's Madame Duberry explored the French revolution through window of the intimate life of King Louis' mistress. Ernst Lubitsch ( January 28, 1892 – November 30, 1947) was a German -born Jewish Film director. Many of his films tended to how the intimate and petty passions of the rich and powerful are ironically responsible for huge historical events in the public realm.

The fourth key artistic movement of German cinema at this time was that of Kammerspiel or "chamber drama. " Associated in particular with the screenwriter Carl Meyer and films such as Murnau's Last Laugh, this movement was in many ways a reaction against spectacle and expressionism. These films tended to revolve around ordinary people living in often dreary, ordinary settings. Often called "instinct" films because they emphasized the impulses and intimate psychology of the characters. The number of sets was often kept to a small number as well. This movement also relied heavily on the use of camera movements to explore the rather intimate and simple spaces.

The arrival of sound at the very end of the 1920s produced a final artistic flourish of German film before the collapse of the Weimar Republic in 1933. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Sound production and distribution were quickly taken up by the German film industry and by 1932 Germany had 3,800 cinemas equipped to play sound films. Der blaue Engel (1930) by the Austrian director Josef von Sternberg was Germany's first talkie (shot simultaneously in German and English) and made an international star of Marlene Dietrich. The Blue Angel ( Der blaue Engel) is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1930, based on Heinrich Mann 's novel Professor Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Josef von Sternberg aka Jonas Sternberg ( 29 May 1894, Vienna, Austria &ndash 22 December 1969, Los A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Marlene Dietrich maɐˈleːnə ˈdiːtrɪç (December 27 &ndashMay 6) was a German -born American Actress, Singer and Entertainer Other early sound films of note include Berlin Alexanderplatz, Pabst's version of Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera and Lang's M (all 1931). Berlin Alexanderplatz is a novel by Alfred Döblin, published in 1929 (born; 10 February 1898&ndash14 August 1956 was a German Poet, Playwright, and Theatre director. The Threepenny Opera (Die 3groschenoper is a 1931 German Musical film directed by G M is a 1931 German drama - thriller directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou Brecht was also one of the creators of the explicitly communist film Kuhle Wampe (1932), which was banned soon after its release. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Kuhle Wampe ( the full title is Kuhle Wampe oder Wem gehört die Welt) is a German feature film released in 1932, about unemployment and

Aside from the major movements already addressed, German filmmakers at this time were known as innovators for their creative usage of Mise-en-scene and camera movement.

See also List of films made in Weimar Germany

1933-1945 - Film in Nazi Germany

See also National socialist film policy and List of German films 1933-1945

The uncertain economic and political situation in Weimar Germany had already led to a number of film-makers and performers leaving the country, primarily for the United States; Ernst Lubitsch moved to Hollywood as early as 1923, the Hungarian-born Michael Curtiz in 1926. This is a list of the most notable films produced in Germany of the Weimar Republic era from 1919 until 1933 in year order Nazism created an elaborate system of propaganda, which made use of the new technologies of the 20th century including cinema. The List of German films of 1933-1945 are divided into this timeframe to reflect the period of Nazi Germany, between the time that Hitler rose to power The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Michael Curtiz ( December 24, 1886 - April 10, 1962) was an Academy Award -winning Hungarian-American Film director Some 1,500 directors, producers, actors and other film professionals emigrated in the years after the Nazis came to power. "Emigrant" redirects here For the Butterflies, see Catopsilia. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Among them were such key figures as the producer Erich Pommer, the studio head of Ufa, stars Marlene Dietrich and Peter Lorre, and director Fritz Lang. A film producer is a person who creates the conditions for making movies. Erich Pommer ( July 20, 1889 &ndash May 8, 1966) was one of the most influential producers of the Silent film era having been one Peter Lorre ( June 26 1904 &ndash March 23 1964) born László Löwenstein, was a Hungarian - Austrian Lang's exodus to America is legendary; it is said that Metropolis so greatly impressed Joseph Goebbels that he asked Lang to become the head of his propaganda film unit. Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation ˈɡœbəls English generally ˈɡɝbəlz (29 October 1897 1 May 1945 was a German politician and Reich Minister of Public Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people Lang fled to America instead, where he had a long and prosperous career. Career is a term defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as an individual's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life" Many up-and-coming German directors also fled to the U. S. , having a major influence on American film as a result. A number of the Universal Horror films of the 1930s were directed by German emigrees, including Karl Freund, Joe May and Robert Siodmak. Universal Horror is the name given to the distinctive series of Horror films made by Universal Studios in California Karl W Freund, ASC ( January 16, 1890 - May 3, 1969) was an Oscar-winning German cinematographer and Film director Joe May ( November 7, 1880 in Vienna - April 29, 1954 in Hollywood) born Julius Otto Mandl, was a Film Robert Siodmak ( August 8, 1900 - March 10, 1973) was a German born American Film director. Directors Edgar Ulmer and Douglas Sirk and the Austrian-born screenwriter (and later director) Billy Wilder also emigrated from Nazi Germany to Hollywood success. Edgar G Ulmer ( September 17, 1904 &ndash September 30, 1972) was an Austrian - American film director Douglas Sirk ( April 26, 1900 &ndash January 14, 1987) was a German Film director best known for his work in Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Billy Wilder ( June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian born Jewish - American Journalist Not all those in the film industry threatened by the Nazi regime were able to escape; the actor and director Kurt Gerron, for example, perished in a concentration camp. Kurt Gerron ( May 11, 1897 &ndash November 15, 1944) was a German Jewish actor and film director Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people commonly in large groups without trial

Within weeks of the Machtergreifung, Alfred Hugenberg had effectively turned over Ufa to the ends of the Nazis, excluding Jews from employment in the company in March 1933, several months before the foundation in June of the Reichsfilmkammer (Reich Chamber of Film), the body of the Nazi state charged with control of the film industry, which marked the official exclusion of Jews and foreigners from employment in the German film industry. Machtergreifung ( is a German word meaning "seizure of power" PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Events in March American Red Cross Month Fire Prevention month ( The Philippines) Women's History Month ( United Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Reichsfilmkammer ( RFK; English: Film Chamber of the Reich) was a public corporation based in Berlin that regulated the film industry in As part of the process of Gleichschaltung all film production in Germany was subordinate to the Reichsfilmkammer, which was directly responsible to Goebbel's Propaganda ministry, and all those employed in the industry had to be members of the Reichsfachschaft Film. Gleichschaltung, meaning "coordination" "making the same" "bringing into line" is a Nazi term for the process by which the "Non-Aryan" film professionals and those whose politics or personal life were unacceptable to the Nazis were excluded from the Reichsfachschaft and thus denied employment in the industry. Some 3,000 individuals were affected by this employment ban. In addition, as journalists were also organised as a division of the Propaganda Ministry, Goebbels abolished film criticism in 1936, and replaced it with Filmbeobachtung (film observation); journalists could only report on the content of a film, not offer judgement on its artistic or other worth. A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practices Journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events trends Film review redirects here for the similar sounding Film revue please visit Revue#Film revues.

With the German film industry now effectively an arm of the totalitarian state, no films could be made that were not ostensibly in accord with the views of the ruling regime. Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a concept used to describe Political systems where a State regulates nearly every aspect of public and private However, despite the existence of anti-semitic propaganda works such as The Eternal Jew (1940) - which was a box-office flop - and the more sophisticated but equally anti-semitic Jud Süß (1940), which achieved commercial success at home and elsewhere in Europe, the majority of German films from the National Socialist period were intended principally as works of entertainment. Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility The Eternal Jew is a 1940 Propaganda film. Its title in German is Der ewige Jude, the German term for the character of Jud Süß ( The Jew Süss) was the nickname of Joseph Süss Oppenheimer and is the title of an 1827 Novella by Wilhelm Hauff, a 1925 The import of foreign films was legally restricted after 1936 and the German industry, which was effectively nationalised in 1937, had to make up for the missing foreign films (above all American productions). Nationalization, also spelled nationalisation, is the act of taking an industry or assets into the Public ownership of a national government Entertainment also became increasingly important in the later years of World War II when the cinema provided a distraction from Allied bombing and a string of German defeats. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including In both 1943 and 1944 cinema admissions in Germany exceeded a billion,[1] and the biggest box office hits of the war years were Die große Liebe (1942) and Wunschkonzert (1941), which both combine elements of the musical, wartime romance and patriotic propaganda, Frauen sind doch bessere Diplomaten (1941), a comic musical which was one of the earliest German films in colour, and Wiener Blut (1942), the adaptation of a Johann Strauß comic operetta. A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for Admission to a venue Wunschkonzert ("Request Concert" is a German propaganda Drama film by Eduard von Borsody made in 1940 which after The musical film is a Film genre in which several Songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative Johann Strauss II (also known as Johann Strauss the Younger, Johann Strauss Jr Operetta is a genre of light Opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter The importance of the cinema as a tool of the state, both for its propaganda value and its ability to keep the populace entertained, can be seen in the filming history of Veit Harlan's Kolberg (1945), the most expensive film of the Nazi era, for the shooting of which tens of thousands of soldiers were diverted from their military positions to appear as extras. Veit Harlan ( September 22 1899, Berlin - April 13 1964, Capri Italy) was a German Film director Kolberg is a 1945 German Propaganda film directed by Veit Harlan and Wolfgang Liebeneiner.

Despite the emigration of many film-makers and the political restrictions, the period was not without technical and aesthetic innovations, the introduction of Agfacolor film production being a notable example. Agfacolor is a series of color photographic products produced by Agfa of Germany Technical and aesthetic achievement could also be turned to the specific ends of the Nazi state, most spectacularly in the work of Leni Riefenstahl. Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl ( August 22 1902 – September 8 2003) was a German Film director Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (1935), documenting the 1934 Nuremberg Rally, and Olympia (1938), documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics, pioneered techniques of camera movement and editing that have influenced many later films. Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens is a propagandistic Documentary film by the German filmmaker The Nuremberg Rally (officially Reichsparteitag, meaning national party convention was the annual rally of the NSDAP (Nazi Party in the years 1923 to 1938 in Olympia is a 1938 film by Leni Riefenstahl documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, an International Multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin Both films, particularly Triumph of the Will, remain highly controversial, as their aesthetic merit is inseparable from their propagandising of Nazi ideals.

Post-war reconstruction

The occupation and reconstruction of Germany by the Four Powers in the period immediately after the end of World War II brought a major and long-lasting change to the economic conditions under which the industry in Germany had previously operated. The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority, known in German as the Alliierter Kontrollrat, also referred to as the Four Powers (German World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The holdings of Ufa were confiscated by the Allies and, as part of the process of decartelisation, licences to produce films were shared between a range of much smaller companies. Decartelization is the transition of a national economy from Monopoly control by groups of large businesses known as Cartels to a Free market economy In addition, the Occupation Statute of 1949, which granted partial independence to the newly created Federal Republic of Germany, specifically forbade the imposition of import quotas to protect German film production from foreign competition, the result of lobbying by the American industry as represented by the MPAA. The Occupation Statute of Germany ( Besatzungsstatut) of April 10, 1949 specified the roles and responsabilities of the newly created German government and Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Amidst the devastation of the Stunde Null year of 1945 cinema attendance was unsurprisingly down to a fraction of its wartime heights, but already by the end of the decade it had reached levels that exceeded the pre-war period. Stunde Null is the German language equivalent of " zero hour " a Military planning term indicating the beginning of some operation [1] For the first time in many years, German audiences had free access to cinema from around the world and in this period the films of Charlie Chaplin remained popular, as were melodramas from the United States. Melodrama refers to theatre in which music is used to increase the spectator's emotional response or to suggest character types Nonetheless, the share of the film market for German films in this period and into the 1950s remained relatively large, taking up some 40 percent of the total market. American films took up around 30 percent of the market despite having around twice as many films in distribution as the German industry in the same time frame (Schneider 1990:35, 42 & 44).

Many of the German films of the immediate post-war period can be characterised as belonging to the genre of the Trümmerfilm (literally "rubble film"). Rubble film (German Trümmerfilm) was the style of choice for those films made directly after World War II dealing with the impact of the ravages of the War on the These films show strong affinities with the work of Italian neorealists, not least Roberto Rossellini's neorealist trilogy which included Germany Year Zero (1948), and are concerned primarily with day-to-day life in the devastated Germany and an initial reaction to the events of the Nazi period (the full horror of which was first experienced by many in documentary footage from liberated concentration camps). Italian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and Working class, filmed on location frequently using nonprofessional Actors Roberto Rossellini ( May 8 1906 – June 3 1977) was an Italian Film director. Germania anno zero ( Germany Year Zero) is the final film in Roberto Rossellini 's famed war movie trilogy (the first two being Rome Open Such films include Wolfgang Staudte's Die Mörder sind unter uns (The Murderers are among us) (1946), the first film made in post-war Germany, and Wolfgang Liebeneiner's Liebe 47 (Love 47) (1949), an adaptation of Wolfgang Borchert's play Draußen vor der Tür. This article refers to the 1946 film See also the 1989 television film Murderers Among Us The Simon Wiesenthal Story. The Man Outside ( German: Draußen vor der Tür, literally Outside in Front of the Door) is the only play written by Wolfgang

Post-war German cinema

The 1950s

Despite the advent of a regular television service in the Federal Republic in 1952, cinema attendances continued to grow through much of the 1950s, reaching a peak of 817. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic 5 million visits in 1956. [1] The majority of the films of this period set out to do no more than entertain the audience and had few pretensions to artistry or active engagement with social issues. The defining genre of the period was arguably the Heimatfilm ("homeland film"), in which morally simplistic tales of love and family were played out in a rural setting, often in the mountains of Bavaria, Austria or Switzerland. Heimatfilm ( ger. "homeland-film" is the name given to a Film genre that was popular in Germany, Switzerland and Austria Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation In their day Heimatfilms were of little interest to more scholarly film critics, but in recent years they have been the subject of study in relation to what they say about the culture of West Germany in the years of the Wirtschaftswunder. The term ( German for "economic miracle" describes the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria Other film genres typical of this period were adaptations of operettas, hospital melodramas, comedies and musicals. Operetta is a genre of light Opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter Melodrama refers to theatre in which music is used to increase the spectator's emotional response or to suggest character types Many films were remakes of earlier Ufa productions shorn of the nationalistic Blut und Boden traits of those Nazi-period films. A " remake' " is a term used to described something that has been done again sometimes with better Quality, and usually with more features Blood and Soil (translating the German Blut und Boden) refers to the Ideology focussing on a concept of Ethnicity based on Descent ( Blood

Rearmament and the founding of the Bundeswehr in 1955 brought with it a wave of war films which tended to depict the ordinary German soldiers of World War II as brave and apolitical. Wiederbewaffnung (rearmament refers to the United States plan to help build up Germany after World War II The Bundeswehr ( German for "Federal Defence Force") is the name of the unified Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany This period also saw a number of films that depicted the military resistance to Hitler. The German Resistance refers to those individuals and groups in Nazi Germany who opposed the regime of Adolf Hitler between 1933 and 1945

The international significance of the West German film industry of the 1950s could no longer measure up to that of France, Italy, or Japan. West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. German films were only rarely distributed internationally as they were perceived as provincial. International co-productions of the kind which were becoming common in France and Italy tended to be rejected by German producers (Schneider 1990:43). However a few German films and film-makers did achieve international recognition at this time, among them Bernhard Wicki's Oscar-nominated Die Brücke (The Bridge) (1959), and the actresses Hildegard Knef and Romy Schneider. Bernhard Wicki ( 28 October 1919 in St Pölten, Austria - 5 January 2000 in Munich) was an Austrian "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Die Brücke (The Bridge is a West-German anti-war Novel written by Manfred Gregor and published in 1958 by Heyne Bücher. Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef ( December 28, 1925 - February 1, 2002) was a German actress singer and writer Romy Schneider (September 23 1938–May 29 1982 was an Austrian actress.

The 1960s: Cinema in crisis

In the late 1950s, the growth in cinema attendance of the preceding decade first stagnated and then went into freefall throughout the 1960s. By 1969 West German cinema attendance at 172. 2 million visits per year was less than a quarter of its 1956 post-war peak. [1] As a consequence of this, numerous German production and distribution companies went out of business in the 1950s and 1960s and cinemas across the Federal Republic closed their doors; the number of screens in West Germany almost halved between the beginning and the end of the decade.

Initially, the crisis was perceived as a problem of overproduction. Consequently, the German film industry cut back on production. 123 German movies were produced in 1955, only 65 in 1965. However, the roots of the problem lay deeper in changing economic and social circumstances. Average incomes in the Federal Republic rose sharply and this opened up alternative leisure activities to compete with cinema-going. At this time too, television was developing into a mass medium that could compete with the cinema. In 1953 there were only 10,000 sets in West Germany; by 1962 there were 7 million (Scheider 1990:49) (Hoffman 1990:69).

The majority of films produced in the Federal Republic in the 1960s were genre works: westerns, especially the series of movies adapted from Karl May's popular genre novels which starred Pierre Brice as the Apache Winnetou and Lex Barker as his white blood brother Old Shatterhand; thrillers and crime films, notably a series of Edgar Wallace movies in which Klaus Kinski, Heinz Drache, Wolfgang Völz, and Joachim Fuchsberger were among the regular players; and softcore sex films, both the relatively serious Aufklärungsfilme (sex education films) of Oswalt Kolle and such exploitation films as Schulmädchen-Report (Schoolgirl Report) (1970) and its successors. The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. Karl Friedrich May ( February 25, 1842 &ndash March 30, 1912) was one of the best selling German Writers of all time noted Pierre Brice (born 6 February 1929 in Brest, France) birth name Baron Pierre Louis de Bris, is a French Actor, mainly known for his Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written by Karl May (*1842 + 1912 with about 200 million copies worldwide one of the best selling German Lex Barker ( May 8, 1919 - May 11, 1973) was an American Actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes Old Shatterhand is a fictional character in sixteen western novels by German writer Karl May (1842-1912 The thriller is a broad Genre of Literature, Film, Gaming and Television. The Edgar Wallace movies are Motion pictures based on the works of British novelist and playwright Edgar Wallace. Klaus Kinski ( October 18, 1926 &ndash November 23, 1991) was a German Actor, famous for his ability to project onscreen Joachim Fuchsberger (born March 11, 1927 in Zuffenhausen today a district of Stuttgart) is a German actor and television host best known to Softcore (or soft porn) is a form of Pornography, either video or nude Glamour photography, that is less explicit than hardcore material Sex education is a broad term used to describe Education about human sexual anatomy, Sexual reproduction, Sexual intercourse, Reproductive Oswalt Kolle (born October 2 1928 in Kiel) is a German sex educator, who became famous during the 1960s for his numerous books and Exploitation film is a type of film that eschews the expense of quality productions in favor of making films inexpensively attracting viewers by exciting their more prurient interests Schulmädchen-Report Was Eltern nicht für möglich halten (Schoolgirl Report Part 1 What Parents Don't Think Is Possible ( UK release title Confessions of Such movies were commercially successful and often enjoyed international distribution, but won little acclaim from critics.

From this period film scholars marvel that Volker Schlondorfer's Verprügeln Sie mich mit einem Muffin-Zinn (Spank Me With a Muffin Tin) did not receive the same commercial success of other films of its kind. Now available on DVD, the director's cut which had never been seen outside of Germany because the director squelched this version in favor of the gay version which he shot simultaneously in Spanish. In the English language, gay is an Adjective that in modern usage refers to Homosexuality. That version had a brief release in 1969 under the alternate title Verprügeln Sie mich mit einem Muffin, Tim (Spank me with a muffin, Tim).

New German Cinema

As a reaction to the artistic and economic stagnation of German cinema, a group of young film-makers issued the Oberhausen Manifesto on February 28, 1962. The Oberhausen Manifesto was a declaration by a group of 26 young German Filmmakers at the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This call to arms, which included Alexander Kluge, Edgar Reitz, Peter Schamoni and Franz Josef Spieker among its signatories, provocatively declared "Der alte Film ist tot. Alexander Kluge (born February 14 1932 in Halberstadt, in the vicinity of Magdeburg, Germany) is a noted film director and author Edgar Reitz (born November 1 1932) is a German Filmmaker. Early life and education Reitz was born in Morbach, Wir glauben an den neuen" ("The old cinema is dead. We believe in the new cinema"). Other up-and-coming filmmakers allied themselves to this Oberhausen group, among them Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner Herzog, Jean-Marie Straub, Wim Wenders and Hans-Jürgen Syberberg in their rejection of the existing German film industry and their determination to build a new industry founded on artistic excellence rather than commercial dictates. Rainer Werner Fassbinder (May 31 1945 &ndash June 10 1982 was a German Film director, Screenwriter and Actor. Volker Schlöndorff (born in Wiesbaden, Germany on March 31, 1939) is a Berlin -based German filmmaker Werner Herzog (born Werner H Stipetić; September 5 1942 is a German Film director, Screenwriter, actor and Opera director Jean-Marie Straub (born 8 January 1933 in France) and Danièle Huillet ( 1 May 1936 in Paris - 9 October Ernst Wilhelm ("Wim" Wenders (born August 14, 1945) is a German Film director, Playwright, Author, Hans-Jürgen Syberberg (born December 8 1935) is a German Film director, whose best known film is his lengthy feature Hitler

Despite the foundation of the Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film (Young German Film Committee) in 1965, set up under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of the Interior to support new German films financially, the directors of this New German Cinema, who rejected co-operation with the existing film industry, were consequently often dependent on money from television. The Federal Ministry of the Interior (in German, Bundesministerium des Innern or BMI is a ministry of the German federal government New German cinema ( German -Neuer Deutsche Film or JDF „Junger Deutscher Film“ is a period in German cinema which lasted from the late 1960s into the 1980s Young filmmakers had the opportunity to test their mettle in such programmes as the stand-alone drama and documentary series Das kleine Fernsehspiel (The Little TV Play) or the television films of the crime series Tatort. Tatort ( English title: Crime Scene) is a long-running German / Austrian former Swiss, crime television series set in various However, the broadcasters sought TV premieres for the films which they had supported financially, with theatrical showings only occurring later. As a consequence, such films tended to be unsuccessful at the box office.

This situation changed after 1974 when the Film-Fernseh-Abkommen (Film and Television Accord) was agreed between the Federal Republic's main broadcasters, ARD and ZDF, and the German Federal Film Board (a government body created in 1968 to support film-making in Germany). ARD ( Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland &ndash "Consortium of public-law broadcasting institutions of Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen ("Second German Television" ZDF, is a public service German Television channel based in Mainz. [2] This accord, which has been repeatedly extended up to the present day, provides for the television companies to make available an annual sum to support the production of films which are suitable for both theatrical distribution and television presentation. (The amount of money provided by the public broadcasters has varied between 4. 5 and 12. 94 million euros per year). Under the terms of the accord, films produced using these funds can only be screened on television 24 months after their theatrical release. They may appear on video or DVD no sooner than six months after cinema release. Video is the technology of electronically capturing, Recording, processing storing transmitting and reconstructing a sequence of Still images DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is As a result of the funds provided by the Film-Fernseh-Abkommen, German films, particularly those of the New German Cinema, gained a much greater opportunity to enjoy box-office success before they played on television (Blaney 1992:204).

The artistically ambitious and socially critical films of the New German Cinema strove to delineate themselves from what had gone before and the works of auteur film-makers such as Kluge and Fassbinder are examples of this, although Fassbinder in his use of stars from German cinema history also sought a reconciliation between the new cinema and the old. In addition, a distinction is sometimes drawn between the avantgarde "Young German Cinema" of the 1960s and the more accessible "New German Cinema" of the 1970s. For their influences the new generation of film-makers looked to Italian neorealism, the French Nouvelle Vague and the British New Wave but combined this eclectically with references to the well-established genres of Hollywood cinema. "Nouvelle Vague" redirects here For the music group of the same name see Nouvelle Vague (band. The British New Wave is the name given to a trend in filmmaking among directors in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s

The new movement saw German cinema return to international critical significance for the first time since the end of the Weimar Republic. Films such as Kluge's Abschied von Gestern (1966), Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Fassbinder's Fear Eats the Soul (1974) and The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), and Wenders' Paris, Texas (1984) found international acclaim and critical approval. Aguirre the Wrath of God (Aguirre der Zorn Gottes is an independent 1972 German Film written and directed by Werner Herzog Ali Fear Eats the Soul ( Angst essen Seele auf) is a 1974 West German film written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring The Marriage of Maria Braun ( Die Ehe der Maria Braun) is a 1979 West German film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Paris Texas is a 1984 Film directed by Wim Wenders. The screenplay is by L Often the work of these auteurs was first recognised abroad rather than in Germany itself. The work of post-war Germany's leading novelists Heinrich Böll and Günter Grass provided source material for the adaptations The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (1975) (by Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta) and The Tin Drum (1979) (by Schlöndorff alone) respectively, the latter becoming the first German film to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Heinrich Theodor Böll ( December 21, 1917 — July 16, 1985) was one of Germany 's foremost post- World War II writers Günter Wilhelm Grass (born 16 October 1927 is a Nobel Prize -winning German Author and Playwright. The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum is a 1975 film adaptation by Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta of the novel of the same name Margarethe von Trotta (born 21 February 1942, Berlin) is a German Film director and a member of the New German Cinema movement The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel is a 1959 Novel by Günter Grass. The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars handed out annually by the U The New German Cinema also allowed for female directors to come to the fore and for the development of a feminist cinema which encompassed the works of directors such as Von Trotta, Helma Sanders-Brahms and Helke Sander. Helma Sanders-Brahms (born 1940 is a German Film director. She studied acting then German and English Helke Sander (born January 31, 1937 in Berlin) is a German feminist film director and writer

The 1980s

Having achieved some of its goals, among them the establishment of state funding for the film industry and renewed international recognition for German films, the New German Cinema had begun to show signs of fatigue by the 1980s, even though many of its proponents continued to enjoy individual success. In addition, the "aesthetic left" nature of New German Cinema (in the words of the critic Enno Patalas) no longer coincided with the spirit of the times. Enno Patalas (born October 15, 1929 in Quakenbrück Germany is a German Film Historian, collector and restorer famous for setting the basis

Among the commercial successes for German films of the 1980s were the Otto film series beginning in 1985 starring comedian Otto Waalkes, Wolfgang Petersen's adaptation of The NeverEnding Story (1984), and the internationally successful Das Boot (1981), which still holds the record for most Academy Award nominations for a German film (six). Otto Gerhard Waalkes (born July 22, 1948 in Emden, Germany) is a German comedian and actor The NeverEnding Story (Die unendliche Geschichte is a 1984 Fantasy film based on the German novel of the same name by Michael Ende Das Boot (das boːt German for The Boat) is a 1981 feature film directed by Wolfgang Petersen, adapted from a novel of the same "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Other notable film-makers who came to prominence in the 1980s include producer Bernd Eichinger and directors Doris Dörrie, Uli Edel, and Loriot. Bernd Eichinger (born April 11, 1949 in Neuburg an der Donau) is a German Film producer and director. Doris Dörrie (born 26 May 1955 in Hannover) is a German film director and producer, and Author. Uli Edel (born April 11, 1947 in Neuenburg, Germany) is a German Film director.

Away from the mainstream, the splatter film director Jörg Buttgereit, the experimental film director Werner Nekes and the provocative Christoph Schlingensief all came to prominence in the 1980s. A splatter film or gore film is a type of Horror film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and Graphic violence. Jörg Buttgereit (born December 20 1963) is a German writer/ director known for his controversial films This article is on the variety of film For information on the They Might Be Giants song see " Experimental Film (song " Christoph Schlingensief (born October 24 1960 in Oberhausen) is a German film and Theatre director, Actor and The development of arthouse cinemas (Programmkinos) from the 1970s onwards provided a venue for the works of less mainstream film-makers.

From the mid-1980s the spread of videocassette recorders and the arrival of private TV channels such as RTL Television provided new competition for theatrical film distribution. PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THIS IS A GENERAL ARTICLE ABOUT VCRs/VIDEOCASSETTE RECORDERS RTL (formerly RTL plus) is a German commercial Television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T Cinema attendance, having rallied slightly in the late 1970s after an all-time low of 115. 1 million visits in 1976, dropped sharply again from the mid-1980s to end at just 101. 6 million visits in 1989. [1] However, the availability of a back catalogue of films on video also allowed for a different relationship between the viewer and an individual film, while private TV channels brought new money and provided a launch pad for new talent to later move into film.

East German Cinema 1945 - 1989

East German cinema initially profited from the fact that much of the country's film infrastructure, notably the former UFA studios, lay in the Soviet occupation zone which enabled film production to get off the ground more quickly than in the Western sectors. The Soviet Occupation Zone ( German: Sowjetische Besatzungszone (SBZ or Ostzone; Советская зона Германии Sovetskaya zona Germanii The authorities in the Soviet Zone were keen to re-establish the film industry in their sector and an order was issued to re-open cinemas in Berlin in May 1945 within three weeks of German capitulation. The film production company Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft or DEFA was founded on May 17, 1946 and took control of the film production facilities in the Soviet Zone which had been confiscated by order of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany in October 1945. Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Soviet Military Administration in Germany ( Russian: Советская военная администрация в Германии СВАГ Sovetskaia Voennaia Administratsia Theoretically a joint-stock company, the majority interest in DEFA was actually held by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) which became the ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) after 1949, formally placing DEFA as the state-owned monopoly for film production in East Germany. A joint stock company (JSC is a type of business entity it is a type of Corporation or Partnership. The Socialist Unity Party of Germany ( German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED) was the governing party of the German Democratic The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A sister "company", Progress Filmverleih, had also been established as a similar monopoly for domestic film distribution, its principal "competition" being Sovexportfilm, which handled distribution of Soviet films.

In total DEFA produced some 900 feature films during its existence as well as around 800 animated films and over 3000 documentaries and short films. In its early years, production was limited due to strict controls imposed by the authorities which restricted the subject-matter of films to topics that directly contributed to the Communist project of the state. Excluding newsreels and educational films, only 50 films were produced between 1948 and 1953. However, in later years numerous films were produced on a variety of themes. DEFA had particular strengths in children's films, notably fairy tale adaptations such as Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel (Three Nuts for Cinderella) (1973), but it also attempted other genre works: science-fiction, for example Der schweigende Stern (The Silent Star) (1960), an adaptation of a Stanislaw Lem novel, or "red westerns" such as The Sons of the Great Mother Bear (1966) in which, in contrast to the typical American western, the heroes tended to be Native Americans. A children's film is a film aimed for children as its audience A fairy tale or fairy story is a fictional Story that may feature folkloric characters (such as fairies, enchantments]] often involving Tři oříšky pro Popelku ( German: Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel, English: Three Nuts for Cinderella, Three Gifts Stanisław Lem ( sta'ɲiswaf lɛm 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006 was a Polish Science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer "Ostern" is also an alternative spelling of Ostara and German for Easter The Sons of Great Bear (Die Söhne der großen Bärin is a German language Red Western of 1966, directed by Josef Mach. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States Many of these genre films were co-productions with other Warsaw Pact countries. The Warsaw Pact (see Nomenclature) was an organization of Communist states in Central and Eastern Europe.

Notable non-genre films produced by DEFA include Wolfgang Staudte's adaptation of Heinrich Mann's Der Untertan (1951); Konrad Wolf's Der geteilte Himmel (Divided Heaven) (1964), an adaptation of Christa Wolf's novel; Frank Beyer's adaptation of Jurek Becker's Jacob the Liar (1973), the only East German film to be nominated for an Oscar; The Legend Of Paul And Paula (1973), directed by Heiner Carow from Ulrich Plenzdorf's novel; and Solo Sunny (1980), again the work of Konrad Wolf. Luiz (Ludwig Heinrich Mann ( 27 March 1871 &ndash 12 March 1950) was a German novelist who wrote works with social themes whose Der Untertan is the most famous Novel by German author Heinrich Mann. Konrad Wolf ( 20 October 1925, Hechingen - 7 March 1982, Berlin) was an East German film director son of Christa Wolf (born Christa Ihlenfeld on March 18, 1929) is a German Literary critic, Novelist and Essayist Frank Beyer ( 26 May 1932, Nobitz Germany - 1 October 2006, Berlin) was a German Film director. Jurek Becker ( September 30, 1937, Łódź, Poland - March 14, 1997, Sieseby Schleswig-Holstein) was a Jacob the Liar is a novel written by the German Author Jurek Becker published in 1969. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Die Legende von Paul und Paula ( English: The Legend of Paul and Paula) is a 1973 tragicomic East German Film Ulrich Plenzdorf ( October 26 1934 &ndash August 9 2007) was a German author and dramatist

However, film-making in the GDR was always constrained and oriented by the political situation in the country at any given time. Ernst Thälmann, the communist leader in the Weimar period, was the subject of several hagiographical films in the 1950s and although East German filmmaking moved away from this overtly Stalinist approach in the 1960s, filmmakers were still subject to the changing political positions, and indeed the whims, of the SED leadership. Ernst Thälmann ( April 16, 1886 &ndash August 18, 1944) was the leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD during much of the Hagiography ( is the study of Saints. A hagiography, from Greek (hağios (ἅγιος "holy" or "saint" and graphē (γραφή Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953 For example, DEFA's full slate of contemporary films from 1966 were denied distribution, among them Frank Beyer's Spur der Steine (1966) which was pulled from distribution after three days, not because it was antipathetic to communist principles, but because it showed that such principles, which it fostered, were not put into practice at all times in East Germany. The huge box-office hit The Legend of Paul and Paula was initially threatened with a distribution ban because of its satirical elements and supposedly only allowed a release on the say-so of Party General Secretary Erich Honecker. Erich Honecker ( August 25, 1912 – May 29, 1994) was a German Communist Politician who led the German Democratic

In the late 1970s numerous film-makers left the GDR for the West as a result of restrictions on their work, among them director Egon Günther and actors Angelica Domröse, Eva-Maria Hagen, Katharina Thalbach, Hilmar Thate, Manfred Krug and Armin Mueller-Stahl. Angelica Domröse (born April 4, 1941, in Berlin) is a German actress who became famous in the role of Paula Katharina Thalbach (born Katharina Joachim on January 19, 1954 in Berlin) is a German actress and Film director Manfred Krug (born February 8, 1937 in Duisburg) is a German actor and singer Armin Müller-Stahl (born December 17 1930) is a German film actor Many had been signatories of a 1976 petition opposing the expatriation of socially critical singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann and had had their ability to work restricted as a result. An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing

In the final years of the GDR, the availability of television and the programming and films on television broadcasts reaching ino the GDR via the uncontrollable airwaves, DEFA's productions' importance was reduced, although its continuing role in producing shows for East German television channel remained. Following the Wende, DEFA had ceased production altogether, and its studios and equipment was sold off by the Treuhand in 1992, but its intellectual property rights were handed to the charitable DEFA-Stiftung (DEFA Foundation) which exploits these rights in conjunction with a series of private companies, especially the quickly-privatized Progress Film GmbH which has issued several East German films with English subtitles since the mid-1990s. Die Wende marks the complete process of the change from Socialism and Planned economy to Democracy and Capitalism in East Germany The Treuhand ( Treuhandanstalt or Treuhand agency) was the agency that privatized the East German enterprises owned as Public property Intellectual property ( IP) is a legal field that refers to creations of the mind such as musical literary and artistic works inventions and symbols names

German cinema today

Today's biggest producers include Bavaria Film, Constantin Film, Studio Hamburg, and UFA. The Bavaria Film Studios in Geiselgasteig a district of Munich's suburb Grünwald Bavaria belongs to Europe's biggest and most famous movie production studios Constantin Film AG is a German film production and film distribution company Ufa (Уфа́ Өфө Öfö; Уфа|Ufa Ӗпхӳ Ephü) is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia. Recent film releases such as Run Lola Run by Tom Tykwer, Good Bye Lenin! by Wolfgang Becker, Head-On by Fatih Akin, Downfall by Oliver Hirschbiegel, and Academy Award winner The Lives of Others by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck have arguably managed to recapture the provocative and innovative nature of 1970s New German cinema. Run Lola Run (original German title Lola rennt, translates as Lola Runs) is a 1998 Film by German Tom Tykwer (born 23 May 1965 in Wuppertal, Germany) is a German Film director best known internationally for directing Good Bye Lenin! is a German Tragicomedy Film, released internationally in 2003. Head-On ( German: Gegen die Wand ( Against the Wall) Turkish: Fatih Akın ( August 25, 1973 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German film director Downfall ( Der Untergang) is a 2004 German / Austrian Drama film depicting the final twelve days of Adolf Hitler Oliver Hirschbiegel (born 26 March 1957) is a German Film director. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. The Lives of Others (original German: Das Leben der Anderen) is a German Drama film, marking the feature film debut of Florian Maria Georg Christian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (b A number of modern German films try to examine the German history of the 20th century in totalitarian systems in movies like Der Untergang, Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, The Lives of Others and The Counterfeiters. Sophie Scholl – The Final Days ( German: Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage) is a 2005 German Film by director The Lives of Others (original German: Das Leben der Anderen) is a German Drama film, marking the feature film debut of The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher is an Academy Award winning 2006 Austrian German Film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky

Apart from the international releases, a number of intimate German films have enjoyed critical success in France, where the term Nouvelle Vague Allemande as been applied to smaller productions mostly coming out of Berlin. A circle of directors of penetrating, realistic studies of relationships and characters informally constitute the "Berlin School" of filmmaking. Among those directors are Christian Petzold, Thomas Arslan, Valeska Grisebach, Christoph Hochhäusler, Benjamin Heisenberg, Henner Winckler and Angela Schanelec.

Other notable directors working in German currently include Sönke Wortmann, Caroline Link (winner of an Academy Award), Romuald Karmakar, Harun Farocki, Hans-Christian Schmid, Andreas Dresen, Ulrich Köhler, Ulrich Seidl, and Sebastian Schipper, as well as comedy directors Michael Herbig and Sven Unterwaldt. Sönke Wortmann ( August 25 1959 in Marl) is a German Film director. Caroline Link (born June 2, 1964 in Bad Nauheim, Germany) is a German Film director and Screenwriter. Harun Farocki (born 1944 in Nový Jičín, Czech Republic) is a German filmmaker of Czech descent Hans-Christian Schmid ( 1965, Altötting) is a German Film director and Screenwriter. Ulrich Seidl (born November 24 1952 in Vienna) is an Austrian Film director, writer and producer Michael Herbig ( April 29, 1968 in Munich) is a German Film director, Actor and Author.

Germany has recently experienced an influx of independent and underground films (mostly pertaining to the horror genre). An independent film, or indie film, is a film that is produced outside of the Hollywood Studio system, a series of oligopolistic practices by several German underground horror is a sub-genre of the Horror film, which has achieved cult popularity since first appearing in the mid-1980s Directors in this popular circle include Andreas Schnaas, Olaf Ittenbach, Jorg Buttgereit, and Timo Rose. Andreas Schnaas (Born April 1, 1968) is a German director and actor working exclusively in the horror genre Olaf Ittenbach (b 1969 Fürstenfeldbruck Germany) is a German horror movie director and special effects Jörg Buttgereit (born December 20 1963) is a German writer/ director known for his controversial films Timo Rose (born February 22, 1977) is a German horror and Science fiction filmmaker rapper, and founder of the production company

The new decade has also seen a resurgence of the German film industry, with bigger-budget films and good returns at the German box office.

Literature

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Kinobesuche in Deutschland 1925 bis 2004 Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft e. V
  2. ^ Information on the Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA) - German Federal Film Board

See also

External links

The history of film spans over a hundred years from the latter part of the 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century. —This is a list of films whose setting is Berlin, Germany. A2Z 2005, Old man and his Lolita are commited to kill each other this German underground horror is a sub-genre of the Horror film, which has achieved cult popularity since first appearing in the mid-1980s World cinema is a term used primarily in English language speaking countries to refer to the Films and film industries of non-English speaking countries
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