FAV307 Cinema of Central Europe: Poland and GDR

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2017
Extent and Intensity
6/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Jiří Voráč, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Patrycja Astrid Twardowska
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 8:20–10:45 Scala, Wed 8:20–14:05 U34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 69 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/69, only registered: 0/69, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/69
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course is focused on cinema of East Germany (1945–1990) and Poland (from the beginning to contemporary times). One third of the time and energy will be devoted to East German production, two thirds to Polish cinema.
DEFA films will be discussed as examples of ideologically determined productions in the freeze – thaw cycle. The films served as tools of the communist propaganda, tried to come to terms with the past and to address the society or to entertain the people. We are interested in crucial moments of East German cultural policy (consequences of the Eleventh plenum of the Central Committee of SED in December 1965 and the ban of so-called „rabbit-films“) as well as genre movies („red westerns“, musicals, sci-fi). We will watch careers of selected directors (Kurt Maetzig, Konrad Wolf, Frank Beyer, Lothar Warneke etc.) and study representations of women and young adults.
The Polish cinema was at the top of its social and artistic importance in the period of so called Polish school (1956-1963, Andrzej Munk, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Wojciech J. Has) and in the period of the Cinema of Moral Anxiety (1976-1981, Krzysztof Zanussi, Krzysztof Kieslowski). The central figure of all periods was Andrej Wajda. We will also discuss authors whose career continued abroad (Roman Polański, Jerzy Skolimowski, Andrzej Żuławski).

Main objectives can be summarized as follows:
to understand relationships between policy, ideology and the film industry in two countries of ”real socialism“;
to know the ”canon“ of most important films from the former GDR and Poland and to experience the films as a spectator;
to extend the knowledge base for historical comparison in the context of socialist countries.
Syllabus
  • Introduction into the study of East German cinema, periodization.
  • The early years of the DEFA studios, Wolfgang Staudte, Kurt Maetzig.
  • Socialist realism, biographies of working-class leaders.
  • Political documents: Annelie and Andrew Thorndike.
  • The Eleventh plenum of the Central Committee of SED and „rabbit-films“.
  • Reflection of WWII and the antifascist resistance, Konrad Wolf, Frank Beyer.
  • Heritage films, Siegfried Kühn.
  • Musical comedies, sci-fi, red westerns and films for children.
  • Films about love, sex and gender, Heiner Carow, Egon Günther, Lothar Warneke.
  • Introduction into the study of Polish cinema.
  • Polish cinema from the beginnings to the end of WWII
  • Polish cinema from the end of WWII to the first half of the fifties
  • Polish film school
  • Andrzej Wajda I.
  • Andrzej Munk.
  • Wojciech Jerzy Has.
  • Jerzy Kawalerowicz.
  • The sixties and "the third cinema".
  • Revival of the seventies, Andrzej Żuławski, Grzegorz Królikiewicz.
  • Krzysztof Zanussi.
  • Andrzej Wajda II.
  • Cinema of Moral Anxiety
  • Solidarność and the cinema of the eighties.
  • Krzysztof Kieślowski.
  • Polish cinema since 1989.
  • Contemporary Polish cinema.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • SKOPAL, Pavel. Filmová kultura severního trojúhelníku : filmy, kina a diváci českých zemí, NDR a Polska 1945-1970 (Film culture of the Northern Triangle : movies, cinemas and cinema-goers in Czech lands, GDR and Poland 1945-1970). Vyd. 1. Brno: Host, 2014, 308 pp. Filmová knihovna ; sv. 3. ISBN 978-80-7294-971-7. info
  • SKOPAL, Pavel. Tři oříšky pro Popelku (Three Nuts for Cinderella). Praha: Národní filmový archiv, 2016, 249 pp. ISBN 978-80-7004-173-4. info
  • HEIDUSCHKE, Sebastian. East German cinema : DEFA and film history. 1st pub. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, x, 196. ISBN 9781137322302. info
  • DEFA at the crossroads of East German and international film culture : a companion. Edited by Marc Silberman - Henning Wrage. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014, viii, 346. ISBN 9783110273458. info
  • DEFA : East German cinema, 1946-1992. Edited by Seán Allan - John Sandford. 1st pub. New York: Berghahn Books, 1999, x, 328. ISBN 1571817530. info
  • PINKERT, Anke. Film and memory in East Germany. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008, x, 275. ISBN 9780253219671. info
  • FEINSTEIN, Joshua. The triumph of the ordinary : depictions of daily life in the East German cinema, 1949-1989. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002, 331 s. ISBN 0807853852. info
  • SHEN, Qinna. The politics of magic : DEFA fairy-tale films. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2015, xv, 311. ISBN 9780814339039. info
  • Film im Sozialismus - die DEFA. Edited by Barbara Eichinger - Frank Stern. 1. Aufl. Wien: Mandelbaum, 2009, 429 s. ISBN 9783854762911. info
  • LUBELSKI, Tadeusz. Historia kina polskiego : twórcy, filmy, konteksty. Wyd. 1. Katowice: Videograf II, 2009, 622 s. ISBN 9788371836664. info
  • The cinema of Andrzej Wajda : the art of irony and defiance. Edited by John Orr - Elżbieta Ostrowska. 1st pub. London: Wallflower Press, 2003, xxii, 205. ISBN 1903364574. info
  • FALKOWSKA, Janina. Andrzej Wajda : history, politics, and nostalgia in Polish cinema. 1st pub. New York: Berghahn Books, 2007, viii, 340. ISBN 1845452259. info
  • KIEŚLOWSKI, Krzysztof. Kieślowski o Kieślowském. Edited by Danusia Stok, Translated by Lenka Kuhar Daňhelová. Vydání první. Praha: Academia, 2013, 237 stran. ISBN 9788020022516. info
  • HALTOF, Marek. Krzysztof Kieślowski a jeho filmy. Vyd. 1. Praha: Casablanca, 2008, 230 s. ISBN 9788090375673. info
  • FORD, Charles and Robert M. HAMMOND. Polish film : a twentieth century history. Edited by Grażyna Kudy. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2005, xiv, 354. ISBN 0786413093. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, film screenings.
Assessment methods
The exam: an annotated filmography of 27 (9 GDR + 18 Poland) watched films for a group discussion.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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