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Potsdam / Berlin (dpa) - It has often been shown that the dreams of young women seem dangerous to some.
There is also an example in the history of DEFA - the former film company of the GDR.
The production company was founded in Potsdam 75 years ago.
For the anniversary, “Fräulein Schmetterling”, a film that was once banned, is now being released.
The film begins with a broken white umbrella: a young woman divides it into two pieces - and suddenly floats through the Berlin sky as if with wings.
People look astonished.
"That's not the case."
The film, based on a script by the well-known writer couple Christa and Gerhard Wolf, tells of the hopes of two sisters - and is at the same time a piece of GDR history.
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Because even before the feature film was finished, it was banned.
After the 11th plenary session of the SED Central Committee in 1965, which was followed by a cultural deforestation in the GDR, it was questioned and declared one of the worst films, says Stefanie Eckert from the DEFA Foundation.
"If you watch the film these days, you can hardly imagine it."
It is a very nice film.
Millions of people grew up watching DEFA films.
These include the popular fairy tale film “Three hazelnuts for Cinderella”, which is still repeated today at Christmas time, and the love story “The legend of Paul and Paula”.
Many are familiar with children's films like “Moritz in der Litfaßsäule”, the Indian films with Gojko Mitić and dramas like “Jakob the Liar” and “Solo Sunny”.
The film company was founded after the Second World War - on May 17, 1946. At that time, the Soviet occupying power granted the founders of Deutsche Film AG a license to produce films.
Later on, the SED leadership will also use the films to transform film into one of their mouthpieces.
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DEFA's legacy includes hundreds of films.
In the GDR there was a central tax obligation, says Eckert, director of the DEFA Foundation, which today looks after the legacy.
All materials were given to archives and stored.
That is why the DEFA film material is almost completely delivered on film rolls.
The foundation still has a few titles on its list that it wants to process and digitize for the cinema or television.
According to the foundation, around 260 out of around 730 feature films have been digitized in such a complex process.
"But we also have around 2,000 documentaries and 900 animated films," said Eckert.
According to the foundation, around 300 of these are also digitized in high quality.
One or the other from the industry is now telling us about the anniversary that the films are of course not just masterpieces.
Director Andreas Dresen told the MDR that he hadn't taken in the «propaganda ham» that had also been made.
But word got around immediately if there was an interesting film that went against the grain.
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In her biography, actress Angelica Domröse also described how some film teams feared at the time.
When “The Legend of Paul and Paula” hit the cinemas in the 1970s, the team was therefore tense.
Would the film go away in a minute?
Political interference was particularly strong in 1965: at that time the SED banned two thirds of DEFA's annual production.
This also affected “Fräulein Schmetterling” by director Kurt Barthel; work on the film was discontinued in 1966, according to the foundation.
The film has now been completed decades later.
The result is a funny and light-footed film about the question of what one dreams of life.
Helene Raupe (played by Melania Jakubisková) takes care of her little sister after her father's death.
She dreams of pumps and a life as a stewardess.
Reality brings her smock and fish counter.
The film has now been released on DVD and will also be shown on television.
To this day, the names of many well-known actors and actresses are associated with DEFA.
Winfried Glatzeder, Jutta Wachowiak and Jutta Hoffmann, for example.
A number of films are to be shown in the ARD media library for the anniversary, and the broadcasters RBB and MDR have also published documentaries and interviews for the DEFA anniversary, for example.
If you ask Stefanie Eckert which DEFA films you should definitely know, she has several recommendations ready: The feature films "Stars" by Konrad Wolf and "Karbid und Sauerampfer" by Frank Beyer, the animated film "Angst" by Günter Rätz and the documentaries " Our children »by Roland Steiner and« Winter Adé »by Helke Misselwitz.
She also raves about the children's films and also advises visiting the foundation's YouTube portal with free films.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210513-99-582076 / 3
DEFA Foundation website
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