7/5, 2:00-4:30 pm, Lecture, SC E470, UMass* 7/6, 2:00-4:30 pm, Screenings, ILC S240, UMass* Painting Women: Women Artists in the GDR | April Eisman, Iowa State Univ. A selection of short films on visual artists in the GDR | Intro by April Eisman, Iowa State Univ. There were many women artists in East Germany, in large part due to the GDR's Three GDR Women Painters • Malen in der DDR long-term emphasis on gender equality. This talk presents a handful of the most (Germany, 1986, dir. Silvia Brüning, 12 min., color, doc.) successful women painters, examines how they engaged with a medium traditionally In this West German TV report—coinciding with the first GDR art exhibition in the FRG defined by male interests and the female nude, and notes the challenges they faced after the 1986 bilateral cultural exchange agreement—Angela Hampel, Gudrun Trenda- working in a country that claimed a gender equality it had not achieved. filov and Ursula Rzodeczko speak about creating art within existing restrictions.
Battle on Canvas • Schlacht am Bild Painter Heidrun Hegewald (GDR, 1988, dir. Ted Tetzke, 21 min., color, doc., EN ST) Malerin Heidrun Hegewald After over 10 years, Werner Tübke completed The Early Bour- (Germany, 1994, dir. Thomas Grimm, 40 min., color, doc.) geois Revolution in Germany, a monumental oil-on-canvas A 1994 interview with (East) German painter and graphic painting for the Panorama Museum, painted in the Renaissance artist Heidrun Hegewald about her experience with art styles of Albrecht Dürer and Albrecht Altdorfer. commissions by the state. 9th GDR Art Exhibition: Dresden, 1982-83 Núria Quevedo: A Berliner from Barcelona IX. Kunstausstellung der DDR – Dresden 1982/1983 Núria Quevedo–eine Berlinerin aus Barcelona (GDR, 1983, dir. Peter Petersen, 24 min., color, doc). (Germany, 2003, dir. Karlheinz Mund, 72 min., color, doc.) The GDR Ministry of Culture hosted a national art exhibition in Dresden every 4 years, A portrait of the Spanish painter Núria Quevedo, whose which presented an ofcial selection of artworks. Over 1500 artists—including Werner Republican family moved to East Germany in 1952. In her Tübke, Harald Metzkes, Albrecht Gehse and Willi Sitte—participated in the 1982-83 paintings she depicts themes of exile and rootlessness. show, which was seen by over one million visitors. 7/5, 7:00-9:00 pm, SOM 137, UMass* Hermann Glöckner: A Short Visit Kurzer Besuch bei Hermann Glöckner Käthe Kollwitz: Images of a Life (GDR, 1984, dir. Jürgen Böttcher, 32 min., color&b/w, doc., EN ST) Intro by Sky Arndt-Briggs, UMass Amherst Constructivist painter and sculptor Hermann Glöckner speaks Käthe Kollwitz – Bilder eines Lebens of his experiences under the Nazis and his difculties with (GDR, 1986, dir. Ralf Kirsten, 95 min., color, EN ST) Socialist Realism in the 1950s and ‘60s. This is the only filmic Kollwitz was 47 and a successful artist when her son Peter portrait of the artist. was killed in WWI. Though always politically active, her son's death turned Kollwitz to radical pacifism and reflections on Strawalde and Penck Paint a Picture • Strawalde und Penck malen ein Bild the meaning of war in her art. For this mosaic-like portrait, (Germany, 1991, dir. Heiner Sylvester, 29 min., color, EN VO) On September 18, 1991, two significant (East) German painters—Strawalde (Jürgen Bött-
WEEK THREE director Ralf Kirsten fitted together episodes from Kollwitz’s unpublished letters and diaries. cher) and A.R. Penck (Ralf Winkler)—got together for a unique painting action in Berlin.
7/9, 2:00-4:30 pm, Screenings, ILC S240, UMass* 7/10, 7:00-9:30 pm, Amherst Cinema Selected shorts on the GDR’S 1980s alternative art scene | Intro April Eisman, Iowa State Univ. whisper & SHOUT | Intro by Sky Arndt-Briggs, UMass Amherst Three Artists’ Super-8 Films: (from the collection of the ex.oriente.lux archive in Berlin) flüstern & SCHREIEN Action Situation (GDR, dir. Helge Leiberg, 1983, 9 min., color&b/w) (GDR, 1988, dir. Dieter Schumann, 120 min., color, doc., EN ST) Draped in White (GDR, dir. Cornelia Schleime, 1987, 9 min., color) Presenting the GDR rock music scene of the late 1980s. From Report–A Comment on a Comment (GDR, dir. Via Lewandowsky, 1987, 7 min., color) well-established bands like Silly, to underground rock bands like Feeling B, this road movie includes clips from concerts Two Shorts by Lutz Dammbeck: and interviews with musicians and fans. It played in sold-out theaters to over a million Metamorphoses I (GDR, 1979, 7 min., color, non-camera-anim.) viewers, who were not only drawn to see their favorite bands, but also surprised that A collage based on the idea for a banned Tangente multi-media exhibition. this film made it past the censors. Hommage à la Sarraz (Germany, 1981, 12 min., b&w, non-camera anim.) The director relocates the Leipzig-based artists’ circle known as Herbstsalon to La Sarraz, the 7/11, 2:00-4:30 pm, ILC S240, UMass* legendary site of the European avant-garde filmmakers’ congress in 1929. Latest from the Da-Da-R The First Leipzig Herbstsalon • Herbstsalon Intro by Seán Allan, Univ. of St Andrews (Germany, 1984-2017, dir. Lutz Dammbeck, 22 min., b/w, doc., EN Intertitles) Letztes aus der DaDaeR In 1984 six GDR artists, including Dammbeck, secretly organized the sensational First (GDR, 1990, dir. Jörg Foth, 86 min., color, EN ST) Leipzig Herbstsalon, in protest of the failed reform of the East German art market. Highly acclaimed East German poets, songwriters and The Subversive Camera • Die subversive Kamera clowns Stefen Mensching and Hans-Eckardt Wenzel per- (Germany, 1997, dir. Cornelia Klauß, 42 min., color, doc., EN ST) formed in the independent cabaret group Karls Enkel (Karl's The history of the GDR Super-8 scene—an underground art movement that was closely Grandchildren), founded in 1976. This film is based on their cabaret skits, which satirized monitored by the Stasi. Artists Ramona Köppel-Welsch, Cornelia Schleime and Christine currents events and were frowned upon by the authorities. “Da-Da-R” is a play on the Schlegel, among others, talk about their experiences as artists in the GDR and how 1920s Dada art movement and the German acronym for East Germany—the DDR. their work changed after the Wall came down. 7/11, 7:30-9:30 pm, Panel Discussion, Old Chapel, UMass 7/9, 7:00-9:00 pm, SOM 137, UMass* Post-Unification Debates on GDR Art In the wake of German unification, the long and contentious 1990s saw many of East Two looks at alternative artistic practices | Intro April Eisman, Iowa State Univ. Germany’s artists come under attack. In essence, these debates were about the roles Quick Animation East German artists would be allowed to play in unified Germany. Panelists will discuss (GDR, 1989, dir. Gabor Steiger, 7 min., color, anim.) their recollections and thoughts about the evolution of attitudes towards East German Big city scenes evolve into ironically alienated settings using grafti and rap music. art in the years after German unification. Claiming Space: The Independent Art Exhibit Scene in the GDR
WEEK FOUR 7/12, 7:00-9:00 pm, SOM 137, UMass* Behauptung des Raums: Wege unabhängiger Ausstellungskultur in der DDR (Germany, 2009, dir. Claus Löser, Jakobine Motz, 101 min. ,color&b/w, doc., EN ST) A Place in Berlin | Intro by Barton Byg, UMass Amherst By the 1970s, a GDR alternative arts scene was developing Konzert im Freien that sought to create its own structures and avoid the ofcial (Germany, 2001, dir. Jürgen Böttcher, 86 min., color, doc., EN ST) apparatus of artistic production and exhibition. The new arti- A team of artists was commissioned to create the Marx- stic subculture grew across the arts and established galleries Engels Forum, a sculpture group commemorating the such as Leipzig’s EIGEN+ART. international workers’ movement in the center of East Berlin. Böttcher blends old and newly-shot footage of the monument to explore the changing meanings of monuments. Two well-known (East) German jazz musicians—Günter “Baby” Sommer (perc) and Dietmar Diesner (sax)—interpret the space and images musically.
June 26-July 15, 2018 | Exhibition, Olver Design Building, UMass | Opening 6/26, 5:30-7:00 pm Anke Feuchtenberger – Selected Works Curated by Bibiana Medkova, UMass Amherst
Anke Feuchtenberger (b. 1963) was raised in East Berlin, where she trained as a graphic artist at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee. Shortly before the fall of the Wall, she co- founded the political artists’ collective PGH Glühende Zukunft. In her comics, theater and political posters and other works, Feuchtenberger blends diferent artistic traditions, including German Expressionism. Her work frequently reflects her feminist activism by focusing on the relationship between women and their children and society. Since 1997, she has taught drawing and media illustration at Hamburg’s Academy of Applied Sciences. [feuchtenbergerowa.de] Exhibited works selected from a collection donated to the DEFA Film Library and the University of Massachusetts Amherst by (East) German filmmaker Jörg Foth. (Artwork: Book cover for Mutterkuchen © 1995 Anke Feuchtenberger)
For more information: cultureinthecoldwar.com | Phone: (413) 545-6681
NEH Summer Institute Faculty: Sky Arndt-Briggs and Barton Byg (Directors, Mass Amherst), Seán Allan (Univ. of St Andrews), Joy Calico (Vanderbilt Univ.), April Eisman (Iowa State Univ.), Elaine Kelly (Univ. of Edinbrugh), Johanna Yunker (UMass Amherst) and Hiltrud Schulz (Film Curator, DEFA Film Library). The DEFA Film Library thanks many friends and colleagues who helped with this program. For films & screening materials: The DEFA-Stiftung (Stefanie Eckert, Anne Möller, Rita Damm, Sabine Söhner); Progress Filmverleih (Robert Zahalka, Miriam Mai); The Kurt-Schwaen-Archiv (Ina Schwaen); Rainer Burmeister; ex.oriente.lux archiv (Claus Löser); Goethe-Institute e.V.; Goethe-Institut Boston. For the exhibition: Anke Feuchtenberger, Jörg Foth, Bibiana Medkova, Constance Roberts, Barton Byg. For English translations & subtitles: Sky Arndt-Briggs, Rosalin Happe, Joseph Keady, Konstanze Schiller, Sigrit Schütz, Hiltrud Schulz. For organization & logistics: Dolkar Gyaltsen, Kathryn Julian, Joe Keady, Jennifer Moss, Konstanze Schiller, Constance Roberts; Detlef Helmbold (zenon design); Sharon Mierzejewski (VSI-HD Media); Instructional Media Lab at UMass Amherst.
A Film and Lecture Series | June 17 – July 12
Organized and hosted by the DEFA Film Library and German and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in tandem with a NEH Summer Institute for College and University Teachers
Free and open to the public Film screenings in German with English subtitles or voice-over All lectures in English
cultureinthecoldwar.com | #defaNEH18 A Film and Lecture Series June 17 – July 12, 2018 At UMass Amherst and Amherst Cinema Most screenings North American premieres! • Free and open to the public • Films in German with English subtitles or voice-over * UMass Building Abbreviations: - ILC: Integrative Learning Center, 650 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA - SC: South College, 150 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA - SOM: Isenberg School of Management, 121 Presidents Drive, Amherst, MA
6/17, 7:00-9:30 pm—SOM 137, UMass* 6/21, 2:00-4:30 pm—ILC S240, UMass* NEH Institute Opening and DVD Release Otto Nagel, 1894-1967 Dusk: 1950s East Berlin Bohemia | Intro by Sky Arndt-Briggs, UMass Amherst (GDR, 1970, dir. Karlheinz Mund, 22 min., color&b/w, doc.) Dämmerung: Die Ostberliner Bohème der 50er Jahre A poetic portrait of painter Otto Nagel by a director who specialized in films on artists. (Germany, 1993, dir. Peter Voigt, 93 min., color&b/w, doc., EN ST) Ernst Barlach: Mystic of Modernity • Ernst Barlach – Mystiker der Moderne Reflections and conversations with a group of East German (Germany, 2006, dir. Bernd Boehm, 26 min., color&b/w, doc., EN ST/VO) artists who frequented the Ganymed restaurant near Brecht’s This portrait of German Expressionist artist Ernst Barlach (1870-1938) weaves his wri- legendary Berliner Ensemble—the hub of East Berlin’s early tings into extensive shots of his drawings, paintings and sculptures. avant-garde arts scene during the 1950s. Presented by the Goethe-Institut Boston. Fritz Cremer, Creator of the Buchenwald Memorial Fritz Cremer, Schöpfer des Buchenwald-Denkmal 6/18, 2:00-4:00 pm—Lecture, Old Chapel, UMass (GDR, 1957, dir. Hugo Hermann, 17 min., b/w, doc., EN ST) Five Myths about East German Visual Art | April Eisman, Iowa State Univ. A portrait of Cremer and his work. His Buchenwald memorial East German art was long ignored by those who believed that the country was became a global rallying cry for antifascism. Text by Bertolt artistically isolated behind the Berlin Wall and did not have art—just kitsch or Brecht. political propaganda. In actuality, East German artists engaged with modern art and Dresden Artists: Three Generations • Malen in Dresden: Drei Generationen with German and international artistic traditions until the end of the Cold War. (GDR, 1989, dir. Rainer Burmeister, 22 min., color, doc., EN VO) Dresden: A world city of the arts with a long tradition and an artistic center in the GDR. 6/19, 2:00-4:30 pm—ILC S240, UMass* This 1989 short—featuring Theodor Rosenbauer, Max Uhlig and Wolfgang Smy—was produced on behalf of the East German Ministry of Culture for an exhibition in the USA. Two shorts on GDR artists and intellectuals | Intro by Seán Allan, Univ. of St Andrews Revolution of a Culture • Revolution einer Kultur (GDR, 1968, dir. Heinz Müller, 39 min., b/w, doc.) 6/21, 7:00-9:00 pm, SOM 137, UMass* Cultural developments after WWII and the need to create art that would inspire the masses. The Story of a Young Couple • Roman einer jungen Ehe Intellect and Power • Geist und Macht—That Was the GDR Intro by Seán Allan, Univ. of St Andrews Germany, 1993, dirs. Christian Klemke & Lothar Kompatzki, 45 min., color, TV, doc., EN ST (GDR, 1952, dir. Kurt Maetzig, 99 min., b/w, EN ST) A post-Wall overview of the history of intellectuals and artists in the GDR. Two young actors make their way through the cultural maze of 6/19, 7:00-9:30 pm—Amherst Cinema divided Berlin before the Wall. This film provides a good visual reference point for understanding Socialist Realism. WEEK ONE Marriage in the Shadows | Intro by Barton Byg, UMass Amherst Ehe im Schatten (Germany, 1947, dir. Kurt Maetzig, 104 min., b/w, EN ST) 6/22, 2:00-4:30 pm, SOM 137, UMass* The first German feature film to address the persecution of Jews Two films demonstrate uses of the arts to establish historical narratives in Nazi Germany—only two years after WWII. Based on the real Intro by Sky Arndt-Briggs, UMass Amherst & April Eisman, Iowa State Univ. fate of an acclaimed German theater couple. Lin Jaldati Sings • Lin Jaldati singt 6/20, 7:00-9:00 pm—SOM 137, UMass* (GDR, 1962, dir. Gerhard Jentsch, 15 min., b/w, doc., EN ST) The Marriage of Figaro | Intro by Johanna Yunker, UMass Amherst Featuring performances by the Dutch-born, GDR-based Jewish singer Lin Jaldati, this Figaros Hochzeit short establishes a direct link from the Holocaust and German militarism, to the GDR’s (GDR, 1949, dir. Georg Wildhagen, 109 min., b/w) need for a military force to protect the peace. This film presented the question of whether the postwar period Five Days, Five Nights • Fünf Tage, fünf Nächte would be marked by cultural continuity or a radical break with (GDR/USSR, 1960, dir. Lev Arnshtam, 108 min., color, EN ST) the past. Mozart’s work serves as the basis for this first GDR At the end of WWII, Dresden is in ruins, and 2,200 paintings opera film, but the screenplay diverges from the original libretto. are missing from its Old Masters Picture Gallery. The Red Army 6/21, 2:00-4:30 pm—ILC S240, UMass* has been ordered to recover the lost paintings. This Soviet-sty- le war-movie-cum-melodrama posits the survival of art as Six short portraits reveal the heritage of GDR artists | Intro by April Eisman, Iowa State Univ. central to civilized values. Political Art: Käthe Kollwitz, Otto Dix, Otto Nagel • Kämpfende Kunst (GDR, 1959, dir. Götz Oehlschlägel, 8 min., b/w, doc., EN ST) This short look at three artists features a score by Hans-Dieter Hosalla.
6/25, 2:00-4:30 pm, ILC S240, UMass* 6/27, 7:00-9:00 pm, SOM 137, UMass* Two films on political song | Intro by Johanna Yunker, UMass Amherst Love’s Confusion | Intro by Sky Arndt-Briggs, UMass Amherst I’m a Negro, I’m an American: Paul Robeson Verwirrung der Liebe (GDR, 1989, dir. Kurt Tetzlaf, 86 min., b/w, doc.) (GDR, 1959, dir. Slatan Dudow, 102 min., b/w, EN ST) Biographical notes on the American singer, actor and civil An entertaining romantic comedy whose score ranges from rights activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976), who performed in classical references to the most up-to-date musical styles of the GDR. Robeson’s career ended at its apex amidst the early 1960s. This last film of Slatan Dudow—who worked anti-Communist Cold War hysteria. with Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler on the 1932 communist classic Kuhle Wampe—ran Special Screening presented by the DEFA-Stiftung, Berlin. into trouble due to its stylized vision and depictions of nudity and consumerism. I’m Ernst Busch • Ich bin Ernst Busch 6/28, 7:00-9:30 pm, Amherst Cinema (Germany, 2000, dir. Peter Voigt, 59 min., color, doc). A portrait of the famous communist singer and actor Ernst Busch, best remembered Midnight Revue | Intro by Johanna Yunker, UMass Amherst for performing workers songs, including by Hanns Eisler. He first became known for Revue um Mitternacht political songs in the 1920s Berlin cabaret scene; after WWII he tried to help build (GDR, 1962, dir. Gottfried Kolditz, 106 min., color, EN ST) socialism in East Germany. This musical comedy revolves around the attempts of a famous producer—the great Kruse—to create a successful 6/25, 7:00-9:00 pm, SOM 137, UMass* musical revue film. With clever references to Hollywood films, On the Banks of the Saale | Intro by Seán Allan, Univ. of St Andrews it exemplifies a push to compete with the West’s biggest An der Saale hellem Strande–ein Kulturhaus erzählt studios and make box-ofce hits to appeal to GDR audiences and bring in revenue. Shot (Germany, 2010, dir. Helga Storck & Peter Goedel, 92 min., b/w & color, doc., EN ST) at great expense in Totalvision, the GDR version of Cinemascope. This documentary about Friendship House, one of East Germany’s most successful 6/29, 2:00-4:30 pm, Lecture, SC E470, UMass* “culture houses,” explores the GDR’s national experiment in bringing the arts to workers and encouraging workers to make art themselves. Features historic footage Music, Modernity and International Solidarity | Johanna Yunker, UMass Amherst and interviews with participants and the architects of cultural policy. Issues of race underpinned the critical discourse on “authentic” jazz forms, and the GDR’s enthusiasm for certain jazz genres signaled solidarity with oppressed African 6/26, 10:00 am-12 noon, Lecture, Old Chapel, UMass Americans. This solidarity can also be seen in works by GDR composers—such as Music, Modernity and Socialist Ideology: Sounding Utopia in the GDR Paul Dessau, Reiner Bredemeyer and Ernst Hermann Meyer—that addressed the Elaine Kelly, Univ. of Edinburgh Global South and display a conspicuous lack of musical “exoticism.” This talk will present the key figures, styles and trends characterizing East German WEEK TWO Uschi Brüning • GDR Magazine 1972/25 - #1 (GDR, 1972, 8 min., color, doc.) musical culture. It will further explore how cultural ideology was constructed and Famous GDR jazz singer Brüning works on her new record. interpreted, and then discuss the constructs of progress and modernity encoded in Monolog for a Taxi Driver • Monolog für einen Taxifahrer GDR composition and performance. (GDR, dir. Güner Stahnke, TV, 37 min., b/w, EN ST) An East Berlin taxi driver’s shift on Christmas Eve turns into a reflection on life, society 6/26, 2:00-4:30 pm, ILC S240, UMass* and his strained relationship with his wife. This short film features a surprisingly mo- dern jazz score by Karl-Ernst Sasse. Films on two key composers of the German canon | Intro by Elaine Kelly, Univ. of Edinburgh Johann Sebastian Bach Against Idiocy in Music – Hanns Eisler (GDR, 1950, dir. Ernst Dahle, 34 min., b/w, doc.) Komm ins Ofene Freund! Oder gegen die Dummheit in der Musik A film produced in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the death of J.S. Bach reveals (GDR, 1989, dir. Andrea Ritterbusch, 23 min., b&w, doc., EN ST) the GDR’s first cinematic attempt to lay claim to the shared German cultural canon. This portrait of Hanns Eisler, one of the GDR’s most renowned composers, discusses his difculties with socialist cultural Ludwig van Beethoven policies, including the ban of his opera Johann Faustus. By one (GDR, 1954, dir. Max Jaap, 95 min., b/w, doc., EN ST) of the few female GDR directors represented in the program. This full-length documentary presents the importance of Beethoven to GDR identity. The composer was viewed as a Paul Dessau (GDR, 1966, dir. Richard Cohn-Vossen, 31 min., b/w, doc., EN ST) forerunner of revolutionary socialism because of his belief in A portrait of prominent GDR composer Paul Dessau during rehearsals of his orchestral the principles of the French Revolution. work entitled Bach Variations. He speaks against the oversimplification of music. 400cm3 (GDR, 1966, dir. Walter Heynowski, 5 min., b/w, doc., EN ST) 6/26, 5:30-7:00 pm, Olver Design Building, UMass Heynowski links East German blood donors to the Vietnamese people who receive this Exhibition Opening precious gift in a series of intercut images set to original choral music by Paul Dessau. Anke Feuchtenberger – Selected Works Suite (GDR, 1981 Heinz Nagel, 6 min., color, anim.) Curated by Bibiana Medkova, UMass Amherst An animated interpretation of Bayon’s Suite No. 4. The musical ensemble’s works blend “Feuchtenberger’s graphic narrative is unique (…) resembling graphic poetry Khmer pentatonic music with classical, jazz and rock elements. Bayon contributed a more than conventional comics.” —Elizabeth Nijdam, Univ. of Michigan song to The Lives of Others (2006).
7/2, 2:00-4:30 pm, Lecture, SC E470, UMass* GDR and the East Bloc. In the 1960s, these films focused on modernist aesthetics and the role of the artist in contemporary socialist society, while in the 1970s and Opera on Film, DEFA Style | Joy Calico, Vanderbilt Univ. early ‘80s they played a key role in internationalizing East German cinema. This lecture considers what happens to “opera” in the translation from live performance to fixed media in the context of DEFA films. GDR contributions to film The Lost Angel • Der verlorene Engel opera are important because opera staging in the GDR was an art form unto itself, GDR, 1966/70, dir. Ralf Kirsten, 58 min., b/w, EN ST representing the beginnings of Regieoper—a style of directing that was perhaps one August 24, 1937: the German expressionist sculptor and of the GDR’s most important and impactful musical legacies in the field of film opera. author Ernst Barlach learns that the Nazis have dragged his famous sculpture, The Hovering Angel, out of the Güstrow Special Screening, Presented by the Kurt-Schwaen-Archiv, Cathedral. Barlach reflects on his life and on his work, which Berlin [kurtschwaen.de] has been confiscated or denounced as “degenerate art.” Kurt Schwaen (1909-2007) was one of East Germany’s best-known and most versatile composers. His work was 7/3, 7:00-9:30 pm, Amherst Cinema influenced by his collaboration with Bertolt Brecht. Schwaen’s extensive oeuvre included instrumental and vocal composi- The Naked Man on the Sports Field tions, as well as operas and film scores. His compositions for Intro by Seán Allan, Univ. of St Andrews Fetzers Flucht—produced for radio in 1959 and TV in 1962— Der nackte Mann auf dem Sportplatz and the 1962 children’s film Vom König Midas are striking (GDR, 1973, dir. Konrad Wolf, 102 min., color, EN ST) contributions to the film opera genre. Konrad Wolf and scriptwriter Wolfgang Kohlhaase based this exploration of the role of art and the artist in socialist society 7/2, 7:00-9:00 pm, Screening, SOM 137, UMass* on sculptor Werner Stötzer. This delicately nuanced narrative interweaves personal memories, historical dilemmas and political defeats and incorpo- The Flying Dutchman | Intro by Joy Calico, Vanderbilt Univ. rates themes tied to Soviet culture, the Holocaust, photography, sculpture and memory. Der fliegende Holländer GDR, 1964, dir. Joachim Herz, 101 min., b/w, EN ST 7/4, 9:30 am-noon, Screenings, ILC S240, UMass* Joachim Herz’s masterful 1962 staging of The Flying Dutchman prompted a request to make a cinematic adaptation. It intro- 1970s approaches to the classical canon | Intro by Joy Calico, Vanderbilt Univ. duced a leftist approach to Wagner reception by emphasizing Träumerei (GDR, 1979, dir. Heinz Nagel, 2 min., color, anim.) the perspective of the young heroine, Senta. The first comple- Animated adaptation of Robert Schumann’s delightful Träumerei from Kinderszenen. te Wagner opera ever made on film and the only GDR film to Beethoven – Days of a Life • Beethoven – Tage aus einem Leben include elements of the horror and vampire genres. (GDR, 1976, dir. Horst Seemann, 104 min., color, EN ST) Vienna, 1813-19: Beethoven is at the peak of his fame. Orchestras all 7/3, 2:00-4:30 pm, Lecture, SC E470, UMass* over the world play his music, but he lives modestly and is depen- Artists on Film: Art for Art’s Sake? | Seán Allan, Univ. of St Andrews dent upon private patrons. Nagged by his patronizing brothers, spied East German Künstlerfilme—films about artists both real and imaginary—ofer upon by ofcials for his republican beliefs and facing progressive
WEEK THREE unique insights into the changing socio-political agendas of cultural policy in the hearing loss, the composer becomes more and more isolated.