Eastern Front / Western Front
SP 01 Look at this City
During the Cold War period Berlin was the focus of an ideological tug-of-war between political superpowers. It only served to reinforce the clichés associated with each of the German states in such a confined space: Freedom and democracy on one side, social achievements and proletariat dictatorship on the other. This programme attests to the warlike strategies of both sides while pursuing ironic and cynical reactions. Beyond trench warfare the East German state was not always able to instrumentalize every film made and Super 8 films occasionally managed to slip through the censor's net. Then came the liberating "Wende" and many a West Berliner struggled with the notion of relinquishing their cherished island.
SP 02 A City in Panic
There has hardly been a country to have undergone isolation as radical as in the GDR: Western military manoeuvres such as "Deko II" in 1961 legitimised the construction of the "antifascist protective wall"; all-embracing education trained "socialist personalities" to be immune against "Western enticement efforts" and the class enemy - Western press in particular - was accused of having a chronically aggressive agenda. This paranoia led to a manic spying and surveillance apparatus that was increasingly directed at its own population. Rarely shown Stasi footage tracks the obsessions of a fear that had lost all sense and reason.
SP 03 Stasi Up Close
The sheer magnitude of the Stasi's infiltration into the private sphere first emerged after the "Wende" through access to files and the dissolution of the MfS (Ministry for State Security). These Stasi film documents relating to spying, tracking and interrogation are shocking in their authenticity. Even the slightest suspicion led to constant surveillance, as the files belonging to photographer Harald Hauswald reveal. This programme provides insights into common Stasi tactics from disruptiveness and isolation to "rendering someone harmless".
SP 04 Everyday between the Fronts
While some claim that "it wasn't all that bad" and one can by all means report about "amusing life in the GDR", there was also no avoiding state control and interference. Wherever deficit and censorship prevail, imagination runs rife. This programme shows everyday life in East Germany, swinging between contained risks and the desire to break free. By the 1980's at the latest, the dilemma of whether to stay in the East or possibly risk one's life by leaving to an unknown country called the West was an issue that threatened to tear apart most families and even society at large. These films bear witness to attempts at subtle forms of critique, which sometimes succeeded but more often than not led to prohibition or exile.
SP 05 Rock the Wall
Everything's easier to take with musical accompaniment; even work, marching, abject submission or enthusiasm for the American Dream. This programme unites the most diverse of genres: early video clips (long before MTV), underground Super 8 films, animation and propaganda films. Experience musical attitudes from the East and West that rock the Wall!
SP 06 The Premiere of "Crossing Boundaries"
To mark the occasion of the beginning of World War II 70 years ago in 1939 and to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany in 1989, the foundation "Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft" held a short film competition in cooperation with the Goethe Institute under the theme "Grenzüberschreitungen" ("Crossing Frontiers"). This competition encourages young filmmakers to grapple with the repercussions of WW2 in terms of geographic and civilisatory 'frontier crossing', as well as with the societal, cultural and political consequences that ensued after 1989. The films will celebrate their premiere at the festival.
