A New History of German Cinema

Jennifer M. Kapczynski, Michael D. Richardson

A dynamic, event-centered exploration of the hundred-year history of German-language film.

Introduction - Jennifer M. Kapczynski and Michael D. Richardson1 November 1895: Premiere of Wintergarten Program Highlights Transitional Nature of Early Film Technology - Janelle Blankenship22 September 1907: Sigmund Freud Is Attracted to the Movies but Feels Lonely in the Crowd - Tan WaelchliSpring 1911: At Munich's Frankfurter Hof a Comedy Team Is Born - Christian Rogowski27 May 1911: Asta Nielsen Secures Unprecedented Artistic Control - Heide Schlüpmann18 December 1913: Atlantis Triggers Controversy about Sinking of Culture - Deniz Gokturk21 January 1914: Premiere of Die Firma heiratet Inaugurates Fashion Farce - Mila Ganeva6 March 1920: Chinese Students Raise Charges of Racism against Die Herrin der Welt - Tobias Nagl23 May 1920: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari Brings Aesthetic Modernism to the Fairground - Paul Dobryden23 May 1920: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari Brings Aesthetic Modernism to the Fairground - Michael Wedel4 March 1921: With Das Floss der Toten, the Dead Come Back to Town - Philipp Stiasny1 April 1921: Walther Ruttmann's Lichtspiel: Opus 1 Shapes Culture of Abstract Filmmaking - Gregory Zinman27 May 1921: Scherben Seeks Cinematic Equivalent of Theatrical Intimacy - Patrick Vonderau14 September 1922: Schüfftan Process Reconciles Artistic Craftsmanship with Demands of Entertainment Industry - Katharina Loew13 October 1922: Alexander Kolowrat-Krakowsky Sets Course of Austrian (Inter)National Film - Robert von Dassanowsky29 November 1923: Karl Grune's Die Straße Inaugurates "Street Film," Foreshadows Film Noir - Anton Kaes31 January 1924: Premiere of Orlacs Hände Marks Beginning of the End of Expressionism - Paul Coates14 February 1924: Die Nibelungen Premieres, Foregrounds "Germanness" - Adeline Mueller10 May 1924: Der Berg des Schicksals Inaugurates the Genre of the "Mountain Film" - Kamaal Haque23 December 1924: Der letzte Mann Explores Limits of Modern Community - Robert Schechtman16 March 1925: Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit Educates Audiences in the Art of Nudity - Britta Herdegen3 May 1925: French and German Avant-Garde Converge at Der absolute Film - Joel Westerdale10 January 1927: Brigitte Helm Embodies Ambivalence of the New Woman17 June 1927: Amateur Film League Aids Invention of Film Culture - Martina Roepke16 December 1927: Debut of Familientag im Hause Prellstein Provokes Debate about Jewish Identity in Popular Cinema - Daniel H. Magilow31 January 1929: Limits on Racial Border-Crossing Exposed in Piccadilly - Cynthia Walk9 May 1929: Oscar for Emil Jannings Highlights Exchange between German and American Film Industries - Gerd Gemünden3 June 1929: Lloyd Bacon's The Singing Fool Triggers Debate about Sound Film - Lutz Koepnick4 February 1930: Menschen am Sonntag Provides New Model of Cinematic Realism - Noah Isenberg13 June 1930: Weekend Broadcast Tests Centrality of Image in Cinema - Brían Hanrahan17 October 1930: Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera Lawsuit Identifies Contradiction between Individual Creativity and Collective Production in Cinema - Marc Silberman11 December 1930: Ban of All Quiet on the Western Front Highlights Tensions over Sound Technology - Dayton Henderson11 May 1931: With Premiere of M, a Gala Hit Becomes a Cultural Controversy - Sara Hall28 March 1933: Goebbels's Kaiserhof Speech Reveals Tension between National and International Aims of Nazi Cinema - Laura Heins29 February 1935: Der alte und der junge König Instrumentalizes Myth of Prussian Nationalism - Martina Lüke28 March 1935: Premiere of Triumph des Willens Presents Fascism as Unifier of Communal Will - Michael Cowan28 March 1935: Premiere of Triumph des Willens Presents Fascism as Unifier of Communal Will - Kai Sicks19 June 1935: Celebration of Lilian Harvey's Return Belies Ideological Incongruence in Nazi Entertainment Films - Antje Ascheid30 August 1936: Luis Trenker Tries but Fails to Sidestep Nazi Filmpolitik - Carola Daffner30 December 1940: Von Borsody's Wunschkonzert Mobilizes Melodrama for Total War - Jaimey Fisher18 February 1941: The Devil and Daniel Webster Puts American Politics on Trial - Simon Richter28 May 1942: Bertolt Brecht and Fritz Lang Write a Hollywood Screenplay - Jonathan Skolnik3 September 1942: With Venice Premiere of Die goldene Stadt, Veit Harlan Enters Debate on Color Cinema - Russell Alt18 January 1943: Bateson Analysis of Hitlerjunge Quex Stressses Value of Film as Key to National Culture - Gary Baker18 May 1945: Welt im Film Newsreels, Rubble Films Model "Cool Conduct" - Wilfried Wilms22 March 1946: Screenings of Die Todesmühlen Spark Controversy over German Readiness to Confront Nazi Crimes - Ulrike Weckel16 August 1949: Ilse Kubaschewski Founds Gloria-Filmverleih, Sets the Course of Popular West German Film - Hester Baer16 February 1952: Peter Lorre Leaves Germany Again - Gerd Gemünden13 January 1954: Preminger's Dual-Language The Moon Is Blue (1953) and Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach (1954) Seek Glocal Success - Christine Haase9 March 1954: Ernst Thälmann - Sohn seiner Klasse Marks High Point of Socialist Realism - Hunter Bivens22 December 1955: Sissi Trilogy Bridges Hapsburg to Hollywood through Hybrid Blend of Film Genres - David Bathrick2 February 1956: In Letter to Enno Patalas, Siegfried Kracauer Advocates a Socio-Aesthetic Approach to Film - Johannes von Moltke21 June and 30 August 1957: Jonas and Berlin - Ecke Schönhauser Link Urban Reconstruction to National Cinema in Both West and East - Bastian Heinsohn19 September 1958: Douglas Sirk's A Time to Love and a Time to Die Tests Limits of Postwar Feeling - Jennifer M. Kapczynski4 September 1959: Der Frosch mit der Maske Moves Popular Cinema from Idyllic Pastures to Crime-Infested City Streets - Tassilo Schneider28 February 1962: Oberhausen Manifesto Creates Founding Myth for New German Cinema - Eric Rentschler1 February 1968: Herstellung eines Molotow-Cocktails Promotes Film as a Tool for Political Violence - Tilman Baumgärtel1 February 1968: Konrad Wolf's Ich war neunzehn Evokes an East German Nation in Transition - Larson Powell7 April 1968: Straub, Huillet, and Fassbinder Share the Stage at Munich's Action-Theater - Barton Byg23 June 1968: Alexander Kluge Egged in Berlin, Months Later Awarded Gold Lion in Venice - Richard LangstonFall 1968: Expulsion of Thomas Brasch from GDR Film School Signals Fate of East German '68ers - Katie Trumpener30 June 1970: A Faltering Berlinale Founders on o.k. Controversy - Kris Vander Lugt29 February 1972: With Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter New German Cinema Learns to Read - Brad Prager24 June 1974: Launching of Frauen und Film Creates Lasting Forum for Feminist Film Writing and Practice - Annette Brauerhoch20 June 1977: DEFA's Biggest Star, Manfred Krug, Leaves the GDR - John Griffith Urang27 October 1977: Deutschland im Herbst Equivocates on RAF and Marks End Stage of Radical Filmmaking - Jennifer Marston William22 January 1979: West German Broadcast of Holocaust Draws Critical Fire and Record Audiences - Erin McGlothlin20 August 1981: R. W. Fassbinder's Lola Revisits Kracauer to Critique Adenauer Period - Brigitte Peucker6 August 1984: Heimat Celebrated as "European Requiem for the Little People" - Rachel Palfreyman8 June 1986: Farocki's Wie man sieht Urges New Ways of Seeing - Michael Cowan2 February 1988: Last Generation of DEFA Directors Calls in Vain for Reform - Reinhild Steingröver23 July 1991: ZDF Broadcast of Ostkreuz Initiates Darker Reckoning with the Wende - Mattias Frey6 May 1992: Marlene Dietrich's Berlin Burial Links Postunification Germany with Weimar Republic's Internationalism - Barbara Kosta25 August 1992: Ostalgie Provides Pushback against Western Views on the East German Collapse - Roger Cook10 August 1994: One Month after Founding of X-Filme, Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg Paves Way for New Productions in the Capital - Brigitta B. Wagner2 November 1995: Neurosia Embodies Seventy-Five Years of Queer Film History - Randall Norman Halle31 December 1995: Der bewegte Mann Sells 6.5 Million Tickets to Mark Peak of New German Comedy - David N. Coury10 February 1999: Berlinale Premiere of Four Turkish-German Films Signals New Chapter in Cinematic Diversity - Andrea Reimann30 April 1999: Werner Herzog's "Minnesota Declaration" Performs Critique of Documentary Cinema - Eric Ames13 May 1999: Germany's Best Fiend, Klaus Kinski, Remembered at Cannes - Will Lehman19 May 2000: With Code Inconnu Haneke Asserts Cinema's Centrality to Public Sphere - Monica Filimon21 October 2001: Television Provides Platform for Record Box-Office Success of Der Schuh des Manitu - Sebastian Heiduschke16 October 2003: Chancellor Gerhard Schröder Sheds Tears - Again - at Premiere of Das Wunder von Bern - Cornelius Partsch14 February 2004: Golden Bear for Gegen die Wand Affirms Fatih Akin as Germany's Preeminent Transnational Director - Barbara Mennel8 September 2004: Der Untergang Offers Palatable Authenticity - Michael D. Richardson22 October 2005: Winner of Hessian Film Award Fremde Haut Queers Dual Binaries of Sexual and National Identity - Faye Stewart, Ph.D.22 January 2007: Film Establishment Attacks "Berlin School" as Wrong Kind of National Cinema - Marco Abel25 February 2007: Das Leben der Anderen Follows Blueprint for Foreign-Language Oscar Success - Paul Cooke - see C801076 December 2007: Indie Film Für den unbekannten Hund Seeks Space for Marginalized Male Heroism - Patricia Anne Simpson11 February 2008: Ulrike Ottinger's Prater Wins German Critics' Award for Best Documentary Yet Highlights the Director's Ties to Both Fiction and Nonfiction Film - Nora M. AlterEpilogue: The Many Lives of Contemporary German Cinema - Jennifer M. Kapczynski and Michael D. Richardson