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University of Southampton Research Repository ePrints Soton Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES FILM STUDIES The Films of Peter Lilienthal. Homeless by Choice by Claudia Sandberg, M.A. Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2011 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES FILM STUDIES Doctor of Philosophy THE FILMS OF PETER LILIENTHAL. HOMELESS BY CHOICE by Claudia Sandberg My thesis focuses on the German-Jewish-Uruguayan filmmaker Peter Lilienthal, whose experience of exile in Latin America during the Nazi period informed his subsequent career. Lilienthal’s films address issues of collective resistance to political oppression in Latin America and elsewhere. In depictions of individuals responding to outside threats, the filmmaker renders the perception of a protective and stable home as arbitrary and volatile. While Lilienthal is usually associated with the New German Cinema of the 1970s and early 1980s, my thesis explores his position as an author who is (dis)-located between national and ethnic borders. Lilienthal’s problematic relationship with Germany, his eventful biography and the hybrid character of his films has led me to hypothesise Lilienthal as a homeless filmmaker. My study is informed by recent scholarly debates examining the impact of migratory processes, diaspora, and transnationalism on national cultures. I consider Lilienthal’s film as a form of diasporic cinema: while the idea of diaspora as migrational phenomenon informs current research of diaspora as cultural and discursive practice, a variety of notions, such as ‘diasporic and migrant cinema’, ‘cinema of displacement’ or ‘accented cinema’ bring diaspora to film studies. Using these ideas as a backbone, my assessment is rooted in Lilienthal’s production methods, the narrative and aesthetics of his films and their reception in different cultural contexts. As a result, I suggest a conception of diasporic cinema, which amends and challenges previous theories. I argue that experiences of displacement structure not only the film text, but inform cross-cultural and collaborative modes of filmmaking. I focus in particular on relations of diasporic film to national cinema. The meaningfulness of Lilienthal’s films in a multitude of national contexts is evidence of their cultural mobility. Moreover, I propose to differentiate diasporic discourse and exilic cinema. While the latter negotiates issues of identity and belonging, and consequently, emphasizes links between author and film text, my understanding of diasporic cinema accentuates the vertical process of filmmaking including production, distribution, exhibition and reception practices. LIST of CONTENTS List of Illustrations v Author’s Declaration vi Acknowledgements vii List of Abbreviations ix 1 Introduction. Sources of Cinematic Homelessness 1 Homelessness, Exile and Diaspora 3 Conceptualising Diasporic Cinema 11 Diasporic Cinema and National Cinema - Convergence, Difference and Criticism 25 Thesis and Chapter Outline 30 2 Locations. Lilienthal’s Cinema in and beyond Germany 33 Lilienthal’s Involvement in German Film Culture 34 Towards a Political-Realist Cinema 38 Not reconciled: Lilienthal and the New German Cinema 44 Home and the Foreign 50 Politics of Otherness 54 3 Tracing the Jewish Diaspora 61 David – Jewish Life in Hiding 61 Securing Survival 63 Spaces of Jewish Existence 68 Facing the Forests – Landscapes of Israeli Identity 72 Social Commitment versus Private Affairs 74 On the Ruins of the Palestinian Village 77 Noach: Excavating History and Preserving the Mythical Nature of Jewish Culture 79 Conflict, Enemies and the Other in David and Facing the Forests 83 4 Lilienthal’s Latin American Films. Diaspora as a Cinematic and Social Practice 87 Calm Prevails Over the Country 89 The Uprising 95 Soldiers – Compromised between all Frontiers 100 Social Life under Oppression: Victims and Perpetrators 108 Leaving the Past Behind 113 Homelessness Revisited 116 5 Critical Reception of Lilienthal’s Films in West and East Germany 121 Exposition: The West German Critical Reception of David 124 Chile – Latin America – Third World: Lilienthal’s Latin American Films as Part of a Contested Discourse between East and West Germany 131 Readings of Calm Prevails Over the Country in East and West Germany 143 Frustrated Views of Reality: The Uprising 153 6 Conclusion. Concept of a Diasporic Cinema 159 Diasporic Cinema as a Mirror: National Cinema, Exile, Authorship 161 Future Research Projects 166 Appendix A: Interview with Peter Lilienthal 171 Filmography 199 Bibliography 207 v List of Illustrations Figure 1. Scene from Dear Mr. Wonderful : The young Joe Pesci stages bowling alley owner Ruby Dennis 43 Figure 2. Scene from David : The young David (Torsten Henties) and his mother (Irena Vrkljan) 62 Figure 3. Scene from David : David (Mario Fischel) and his Rabbi Singer (Walter Taub) at the train station just before they split up 68 Figure 4. Scene from David : David on his way to the Zionist Camp 70 Figure 5 Scene from Facing the Forests : Actor Rusty Jacobs as social outsider Noach 80 Figure 6. Scene from Facing the Forests : Noach (Rusty Jacobs) and Abdul Karim (Muhammad Abu Site) on the watchtower 81 Figure 7. Scene from La Victoria : Marcela (Paula Moya) on her way to Santiago 87 Figure 8. Scene from CPOTC : Soldiers round up the local population of Las Piedras 90 Figure 9. On the set of The Uprising : Actors Maria Lourdes Centano de Zeleya (Agustin’s mother), Agustin Pereira (Agustin) and Carlos Catania (Antonio, Agustin’s father ) 97 Figure 10. Scene from The Uprising : Inhabitants of León gather in the streets 100 Figure 11. Scene from CPOTC : Soldiers guard prisoners about to climb into a truck 102 Figure 12. Scene from The Uprising : Protesting mothers of soldiers in the military barracks. In the center of the group of women is Agustin’s mother (Maria Lourdes Centano de Zeleya) 103 Figure 13. Carlos Mejía campaigning in Seattle, Washington in 2006 106 Figure 14. Scene from CPOTC : Miguel Neira (Eduardo Durán), one of the political prisoners, about to eat under the surveillance of heavily armed prison guards 109 Figure 15. Scene from The Autograph : A local police officer threatens Rocha (Ángel Del Villar, sitting to his left) and Galván (Juan José Mosalini, on the right) 111 Figure 16. Scene from Der Radfahrer : Chilean actor René Baeza as Santiago Escalante 114 Figure 17. Peter Lilienthal at the Akademie der Künste Ost in 1984. To the right of the filmmaker: Günter Agde, Wolfgang Kohlhaase, Heiner Carow and Michael Gaißmayer 140 Figure 18. Screenshot from CPOTC: Former prisoners are headed towards a white house 150 vi Declaration of Authorship I, Claudia Sandberg , declare that the thesis entitled The Films of Peter Lilienthal. Homeless by Choice and the work presented in it are my own, and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. I confirm that: 1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; 2. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; 3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; 4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; 5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help; 6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; 7. Parts of this work have been published as: “Facing the Forests (1996). Landscapes of Israeli Identity”, in Pluralism, Inclusion and Citizenship , edited by Catalina Botez and Kwoh-Jack Tan. Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2011 (forthcoming, provisional ISBN 978-1-904710-88-2) Signed: Date: vii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Peter Lilienthal who enriched my life with his work and his kind personality. Tim Bergfelder who supervised this thesis. He went every step of the way with me and I am most grateful for the many fruitful discussions we had, his advice and support. John Davidson who inspired me to write this thesis. Renate Goethe of the press office of the Konrad-Wolf-Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen Potsdam, the staff at the Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv Potsdam and at the Archive of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin for their cooperation. Günter Agde, Heiko Christians, Jan Diestelmeyer, Hilke Engfer, Jane Lavery, Isabel Mardones, Lucy Mazdon, Daniel O’Brien, Andrea Reiter and Cecile Renaud for inspirational conversations and ideas which amended, shaped and developed my own. Judith