Movies + TV
Gegenbilder - Underground Films from East Germany
Thursday, February 11, 2010, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
GDR Underground Films (Gegenbilder: DDR Underground Filme 1983-89/1997). Includes films by Helge Leiberg, Gino Hahnemann, Cornelia Schleime, Cornelia Klauss, Via Lewandowsky, Thomas Frydetzki, Claus Löser, Tohm di Roes, Thomas Werner, and Ramona Köppel-Welsh. 97 min. In German with English subtitles.
Though the State had a monopoly on film production in East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, or GDR), it was not absolute. An underground film scene made up of painters, poets, musicians, and performance artists flourished from the 1970s-80s outside official channels. This program features a selection of ten Super-8mm films from this fascinating and provocative movement, many of whose members – including Helge Leiberg, Via Lewandowsky, and Cornelia Schleime – are now leading figures in the international art world. “It’s amazing (and gratifying) to realize that such ‘subversive’ films were made in the GDR.” – Amos Vogel, Film as a Subversive Art
