The cinema of East Germany is strongly identified with the studio Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA) and the distributor Progress Film Vertrieb, which later became VEB Progress Film Vertrieb, and then Progress Film Verleih. The Soviet Military Administration created DEFA following the end of World War II and the establishment of the the military districts that divided Germany. In 1949 the newly formed Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) developed DEFA into a film studio with strict guidelines for creating works that favored socialist prosepctives. Even though the strict rules on content limited the number of films created by DEFA, the number of films distibuted by Progress Film Vertrieb increased as more and more cinemas opened. By the 1970s, Progress Film Vertrieb distributed films from 30 countries. In addition to distributing films to cinemas, Progress Film Vertrieb also sponsored film festivals.
These posters document the cinematic heritage of the DDR and represent the films through both abstract works and interpretations of scenes from the films. The posters range in size from 21 x 57.5 cm to 84 x 59.5 cm. Although the posters date from 1947-1995, the majority fall between 1950 and 1990. The collection includes a poster for the 1965 DEFA production of "The Rabbit is Me," which was banned by the DDR as anti-socialist. Another poster for "Your Unknown Brother," a film that was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival, was withdrawn by DDR officials. A poster for "Jacob the Liar," the first and only DDR film to be nominated for an Academy Award in 1975, was not released to the public until 1989. A significant portion of the posters are for films produced outside the former Eastern Bloc, but they often promote socialist concepts or have socialist undertones. For example, one of the posters advertises for "Trading Places," an American film about two wealthy capitalists manipulating the marketplace and their downfall arranged by a homeless black man and a white former employee of the capitalists. Most of the films from other countries are from the former Soviet Union and other Commnist countries.
The arrangement is by subject and a numbering system.
Collection is open to research.
There may be use restrictions.
Special Collections and Archives holds many other posters on the history of East Germany.
East German poster collection film series, Collection #0208, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.
Purchased from Thomas Hill in 2009.
Processed by Sean Tennant and Alexa Potter in 2010-2011. EAD markup completed by Jordan Patty in 2011.
Processing supported by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Sample images are also available. Please contact speccoll@gmu.edu for more information.