Cinema of Collaboration: DEFA Coproductions and International Exchange in Cold War Europe

Mariana Ivanova

Published by Berghahn Books 2019

Cinema of Collaboration

DEFA Coproductions and International Exchange in Cold War Europe

Mariana Ivanova

Volume 21 in the series Film Europa

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781789203448

Overview
Contents

About this book

From their very inception, European cinemas undertook collaborative ventures in an attempt to cultivate a transnational “Film-Europe.” In the postwar era, it was DEFA, the state cinema of East Germany, that emerged as a key site for cooperative practices. Despite the significant challenges that the Cold War created for collaboration, DEFA sought international prestige through various initiatives. These ranged from film exchange in occupied Germany to partnerships with Western producers, and from coproductions with Eastern European studios to strategies for film co-authorship. Uniquely positioned between East and West, DEFA proved a crucial mediator among European cinemas during a period of profound political division.

Author / Editor information

Mariana Ivanova is Associate Professor of German Film and University of Massachusetts Amherst and Academic Director of the DEFA Film Library. She is co-editor of the book series Film and the Cold War with Berghahn Books. In addition to her scholarly publications, she is also the creator of several short documentaries about former DEFA filmmakers

Reviews

“Ivanova demonstrates [in this refreshing volume] that in the 20th century there was a common language of European film, a language that transcended ideology and the Cold War… Highly Recommended.” • Choice

“Mariana Ivanova's book is being published at a time when the history of producers and cinematic exchange is increasingly coming into the focus of research in different subjects and countries... [Her] study can also give important impulses to current research in this extended context; its reading is therefore highly recommended.” • Filmblatt

“Cinema of Collaboration marks a crucial moment in English-language scholarship on East German cinema. Mariana Ivanova’s study opens up a nuanced and multi-layered engagement with DEFA films beyond the cultural sphere.” • Sebastian Heiduschke, Oregon State University

“This is a very well-written and thoroughly researched study that offers interesting new insights into the transnational connections of producers and artists. In its transnational perspective, the book outlines new trajectories of cultural politics that will change how scholars think, write, and teach about DEFA.” • Maria Stehle, University of Tennessee

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
List of Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	x
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. The Legacy of Film Europe: DEFA’s Coproductions with France Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
Chapter 2. Film Exchange beyond the Ban: Erich Mehl’s Partnership with DEFA Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
Chapter 3. Competing with the West, Running with the East: Creating Utopia in DEFA Artistic Production Units Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
Chapter 4. Writing Together: DEFA’s Biopics in the Context of European Cinema Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	178
Epilogue. Heritage, Continuity, and Collaboration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
Select Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	242
Select Filmography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	262
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265