Convergence of Avant-Garde and Heritage in East German Cinema
Panel Series at the 2024 GSA conference in Atlanta, GA
DEFA films were first explored via the bifocal lens of “heritage” and “avant-garde” at a 1999 symposium titled “Getrennte Vergangenheit—gemeinsame Geschichte?” at the Humboldt University of Berlin. In addition to screening a selection of feature and documentary films commenting on various screen representations of Germany, film scholars and historians met for a two-day workshop to assert DEFA as “Kulturerbe” of the reunified Germany and to announce the foundation of the DEFA