At the monthly PoSoCoMeS seminar on 7 November 2022, 5.30 pm (CET), Holger Pötzsch discusses how the GDR past is constructed in features films, series, and documentaries, with Daria Gordeeva, editor of the online portal “The GDR in Film“.

The starting point of this project is the key role of historical films in the memory-shaping process. As soon as the Berlin Wall fell and the GDR collapsed, filmmakers began to deal with the socialist past as well as social and economic consequences of the German unification. More than hundred films set in the GDR have been shown in cinemas, on TV screens, and streaming platforms since 1990. The online handbook “The GDR in Film” deals with filmic narratives and interpretations of the former socialist state and investigates political and social contexts, in which these films are produced and received. The online portal is aimed at scientists and students, journalists and educators, as well as people who are interested in films, memory politics, and the GDR. “The GDR in Film” also provides easy-to-understand information on the current state of research, the theoretical background, and the methodological approach.