DEFA Conference "Storm and Compulsion" ("Sturm und Zwang")

The 11th Plenum of the Central Committee of the SED party in December 1965 ranks among the most decisive cultural-political turning points in the history of the GDR (East Germany). Numerous books, plays, and musical works that critically examined the development of GDR society were subsequently banned. DEFA was also severely affected: twelve feature films – including THE RABBIT IS ME (DAS KANINCHEN BIN ICH, Dir. Kurt Maetzig, 1965) and DON’T THINK, I’LL CRY (DENK BLOSS NICHT, ICH HEULE, Dir. Frank Vogel, 1965) – were banned - by interrupting production, refusing approval for release, or withdrawn from distribution. The Plenum left a lasting impact: some directors were subsequently unable to make any more feature films, and socially critical topics were hardly addressed at all in the years that followed. Most of banned films were never screened until after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the "Kahlschlag" plenary session, the Zeughauskino cinema in Berlin presented an extensive retrospective from December 1 to 20, 2015, featuring films that were produced around the time of the 11th plenary session in 1965/66 and were partially banned. The DEFA Foundation co-hosted a symposium with the Hannah Arendt Institute (Dresden) and the Berlin Zeughauskino presenting the new book  Forbidden Utopia: The SED, the DEFA, and the 11th Plenum ("Verbotene Utopie. Die SED, die DEFA und das 11. Plenum"), edited by Andreas Kötzing and Ralf Schenk.

The authors of the book reported on their research and new findings regarding the background and consequences of the Plenum. For the first time, a focus was placed on events within the DEFA studio for animation and the DEFA studio for documentary film, which had previously remained largely unexamined in research. Furthermore, the production history of the film KNIGHT OF THE RAIN (RITTER DES REGENS; Dir. Egon Schlegel and Dieter Roth, 1965) was examined in detail; its materials remain missing to this day. In addition, a comparative analysis was conducted between the original tape recordings of the 11th Plenum and the subsequently printed transcripts of speeches by Walter Ulbricht, Erich Honecker, and others, which deviate significantly from one another.

Symposium program

1. Ralf Schenk: DEFA feature films between 1961 and 1968: New beginnings – Breakdown – New horizons
2. Andreas Kötzing: Beyond the bans – New sources and open questions on the history of the 11th Plenum
3. Ralf Dittrich: Experiences in the digital processing of banned DEFA films
4. Ursula von Keitz: Screenplay reading as imaginary film reconstruction: on Dieter Roth/Egon Schlegel's KNIGHTS OF THE RAIN
5. Volker Petzold: DEFA animation in the wake of non-commitment, formalism, and anti-personality cult
6. Chris Wahl: "What is socialist realism?" – "A reflection of reality, only much, much more beautiful!"
7. Günter Agde: Reading and improvising – rhetorical strategies as political instruments. On the tape recordings of the 11th Plenum

Film program at Zeughauskino

1. BEING 18 IS NOT ENOUGH (ES GENÜGT NICHT 18 ZU SEIN) and HELLO, THIS IS US (GUTEN TAG – DAS SIND WIR; Dir. Kurt Tetzlaff, 1964-66), Introduction: Chris Wahl
2. Animated program (DEFA animated films in the focus of censorship), Introduction: Volker Petzold

The complete conference program (in German) can be found  here (304 KB).