Faces of DEFA at Goethe Institut Alexandria

1-14 December 2010. Goethe Institut Alexandria organises an exhibition and a selection of movies projections on filmmaking in East Germany (GDR) from the end of Nazi regime to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

At that time the Deutsche Film AG (DEFA) was the state controlled film studio. It produced over 700 movies with the aim of creating alternative models to fascism and capitalism, educating the population and promoting socialist values. The DEFA developed a little known cinematic universe, parallel to the western productions, but for ideological reasons any artistic exchange was refused. Despite the rigid state propaganda and control, some movies show uncomfortable moments caused by the oppression of a free youth in conflict with the government.

DEFA created a unique chapter in the German film history and some actors, who started their career in GDR, migrated to the West already before the fall of the Berlin Wall, where they continued their acting career.