Werner Kohlert

The annual production conference, speeches by functionaries and silence of the workers while they are waiting to descent into the pit. Talking of the unimportant, what really should be said remains unspoken of. A suffocating closeness to reality conserved a part of history that remains ageless though impressive images.

The annual production conference, speeches by functionaries and silence of the workers while they are waiting to descent into the pit. Talking of the unimportant, what really should be said remains unspoken of. A suffocating closeness to reality conserved a part of history that remains ageless though impressive images.

The annual production conference, speeches by functionaries and silence of the workers while they are waiting to descent into the pit. Talking of the unimportant, what really should be said remains unspoken of. A suffocating closeness to reality conserved a part of history that remains ageless though impressive images.

With excerpts from Goethe's diary, sketches and engravings, this film follows Goethe's Italian Journey through Rome, Naples and Pompeii.

With excerpts from Goethe's diary, sketches and engravings, this film follows Goethe's Italian Journey through Rome, Naples and Pompeii.

With excerpts from Goethe's diary, sketches and engravings, this film follows Goethe's Italian Journey through Rome, Naples and Pompeii.

Documentary on the 1000-year-old town of Weimar. The film presents an example of the victory of humanist traditions over nazi brutality.

Kochberg Castle was once owned by the von Stein family and Goethe visited Charlotte von Stein there several times. On the occasion of the "1000 years of Weimar" celebrations, the castle, which has been converted into a memorial, is being opened to the public. At the inauguration ceremony, students of the Weimar Academy of Music will give a large festive concert. On the basis of old engravings and personal letters and pictures the audience learns more about the relationship between Goethe and Charlotte von Stein.

East German documentary short about Somalia in 1976.

East German documentary short about Somalia in 1976.

In this film about apprentices of the Rewatex laundry, Böttcher once again turns to the focal concern of almost all his films the attempt to report as truthfully and impressibly as possible on the life of workers. Böttcher takes the audience into the midst of a seemingly unknown environment only to let them realize how familiar this world in fact is.

A black-and-white documentary film about the large housing estate "Lütten Klein" in the northwest of Rostock in June 1968. On the basis of the construction worker and shop steward Hans Schmidt, the efforts to fulfil the plan are clearly shown, even if the supplies and weather conditions are not optimal. The group meeting of the construction brigade shown here describes, among other things, the hardships and disappointments of some of the workers on the construction site. On the other hand, the construction management and shop steward Schmidt try to motivate the workers to achieve even higher performance by demanding competition and obligations.

Documentary short.

The film’s subtitle identifies it as a “study of the constructive discontent of a composer”. It is a portrait of the pugnacious musician Paul Dessau (1894 – 1979), who was controversial in East Germany, as a teacher. It follows the composer as he rehearses the “Bach Variations” with the Berlin state opera orchestra, as well during classes at the Polytechnic School I in Zeuthen, where he strives to teach the students a critical attitude. In an interview, Dessau bemoans the simplification of artistic media and elucidates the meaning and necessity of “hard sounds in an era that is not soft”. As we see when he works, “pleasure requires effort” … “art is never comfortable. Building socialism is not comfortable at all. That’s why I’m in favour of the uncomfortable”.

A film about Jewish cemeteries in East Berlin, based on a screenplay by Günter Kunert, with text by Rabbi Martin Riesenburger. There are shots of gravestones and inscriptions – deported, murdered, perished; in Auschwitz or Theresienstadt. Commentary reminds us of the victims – "in 1933, 160,564 Jewish citizens lived in Berlin; in 1945, 3,500".

The first animated feature film made in East Germany. The people of Shilda were once welcome at the courts of princes all over the world, but back at the Shilda castle work remained and had to be carried out by the women of the town. The women grew tired of this and called their men back. After many foolish decisions, the townspeople were victims of their own devices, and eventually set fire to their own city. The fire destroyed everything, and the citizens of Shilda fled out into the world.