The Pragmatic Alliance of DEFA and Barrandov : Cultural
Transfer, Popular Cinema and Czechoslovak-East German
Co-productions, 1957–85

J 2018

The Pragmatic Alliance of DEFA and Barrandov : Cultural Transfer, Popular Cinema and Czechoslovak-East German Co-productions, 1957–85

SKOPAL, Pavel

Basic information

Original name

The Pragmatic Alliance of DEFA and Barrandov : Cultural Transfer, Popular Cinema and Czechoslovak-East German Co-productions, 1957–85

Authors

SKOPAL, Pavel (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 2018, 0143-9685

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

60405 Studies on Film, Radio and Television

Country of publisher

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

URL

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/18:00102330

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2017.1285151

UT WoS

000424194800007

Keywords in English

co-productions; transnational cinema; Barrandov; German Cinema; DEFA

Abstract

V originále

This article examines the cooperation that took place between the East German DEFA and Czechoslovakia’s Barrandov film studios, in terms of their coproductions and the recruitment of Czechoslovak talent to work on nominally East German productions. By analysing these ventures from their inception in 1957 onwards, I consider the conditions supervising the transfer of professional skills between the studios, especially during periods of intensive exchange: the mid-1960s and the 1970s. I argue that DEFA utilized Barrandov-contracted talent to facilitate its production of commercially viable light entertainment. In the 1960s, ‘travelling filmmakers’ helped DEFA to launch a series of East German-produced musicals and Indianerfilme. In the 1970s, DEFA functionaries aimed to benefit from the creative input Czechoslovak scriptwriters, directors and producers brought to children’s films. I suggest the two periods in question were shaped by distinct sets of institutional, political and creative circumstances. The recruitment of individual Czechoslovak personnel in the earlier period enabled DEFA to train in-house talent. A decade later, purges enacted by the Czechoslovak Communist Party limited creative possibilities for this country’s film-makers, incentivizing a newfound desire to partner with a studio that Barrandov had previously deemed beneath it.

Links

MUNI/21/SKO/2015, interní kód MU

Name: Editorství české a anglické verze kolektivní monografie věnované filmu Tři oříšky pro Popelku

Investor: Masaryk University

Citovat

SKOPAL, Pavel. The Pragmatic Alliance of DEFA and Barrandov : Cultural Transfer, Popular Cinema and Czechoslovak-East German Co-productions, 1957–85. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 2018, vol. 38, No 1, p. 133-146. ISSN 0143-9685. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2017.1285151.

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   author = {Skopal, Pavel},
   article_number = {1},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2017.1285151},
   keywords = {co-productions; transnational cinema; Barrandov; German Cinema; DEFA},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {0143-9685},
   journal = {Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television},
   title = {The Pragmatic Alliance of DEFA and Barrandov : Cultural Transfer, Popular Cinema and Czechoslovak-East German Co-productions, 1957–85},
   url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2017.1285151},
   volume = {38},
   year = {2018}
}

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N2  - This article examines the cooperation that took place between the East German DEFA and Czechoslovakia’s Barrandov film studios, in terms of their coproductions and the recruitment of Czechoslovak talent to work on nominally East German productions. By analysing these ventures from their inception in 1957 onwards, I consider the conditions supervising the transfer of professional skills between the studios, especially during periods of intensive exchange: the mid-1960s and the 1970s. I argue that DEFA utilized Barrandov-contracted talent to facilitate its production of commercially viable light entertainment. In the 1960s, ‘travelling filmmakers’ helped DEFA to launch a series of East German-produced musicals and Indianerfilme. In the 1970s, DEFA functionaries aimed to benefit from the creative input Czechoslovak scriptwriters, directors and producers brought to children’s films. I suggest the two periods in question were shaped by distinct sets of institutional, political and creative circumstances. The recruitment of individual Czechoslovak personnel in the earlier period enabled DEFA to train in-house talent. A decade later, purges enacted by the Czechoslovak Communist Party limited creative possibilities for this country’s film-makers, incentivizing a newfound desire to partner with a studio that Barrandov had previously deemed beneath it.
ER  -

SKOPAL, Pavel. The Pragmatic Alliance of DEFA and Barrandov : Cultural Transfer, Popular Cinema and Czechoslovak-East German Co-productions, 1957–85. \textit{Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television}. 2018, vol.~38, No~1, p.~133-146. ISSN~0143-9685. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2017.1285151.

Detailed Information on Publication Record