For the winter term 2025/26, Carsta Langner, head of our project “Voluntariness and Solidarity in the GDR and the Post-socialist Transition (1970-2000)”, is organizing a seminar and public film series entitled “Solidarität und Bevormundung – Die DDR und der Globale Süden” (find more information below). All film screenings will be followed by discussions with special guests and are being held in cooperation with the Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstraße (Gedenk- und Bildungsstätte Andreasstraße) in Erfurt.
The film series is part of a seminar in which we examine the relationship between the GDR and the so-called Global South. It presents four films that provide insights into how the states and societies of the Global South were represented in the GDR. The films tell of the lives of East Germans in Zimbabwe within a friendship brigade, of the challenges faced by Chilean refugees in the GDR, and of calls for solidarity with migrants in the GDR. They show the propagandistic invocations and appeals used in the GDR to try to call on East German society to embrace so-called international friendship. In joint film discussions, we want to discuss what experiences people in the GDR had with these films. What kind of mental traces did they leave behind? A special focus will be placed on the relationship with Chile.
The following films will be shown to the interested public on four dates. Feel free to contact us via email if you have any further questions regarding the program!
Screening 1: Tuesday, November 4, 2025, „Jenseits von Klein-Wanzleben“ (Andreas Dresen, DDR 1989), starting at 06:00 pm, Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstraße – This documentary portrays a socialist brigade in Zimbabwe, providing viewers with a contemporary perspective at the so-called development aid provided by the German Democratic Republic.
Sreening 2: Thursday, December 11, 2025, „Isabel auf der Treppe“ (Hannelore Unterberg, DDR 1984), starting at 06:00 pm, Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstraße – The film is categorized as a genre film for children, but it goes far beyond that. It deals with the fate of a Chilean refugee and her daughter in East German society during the 1980s. The DEFA film is an appeal for solidarity and a critique of the lack of empathy in everyday life. In a subsequent talk, we want to discuss the psychological impact that films such as “Isabel auf der Treppe” had on East German viewers. The conversation will be joined by José Pérez, who lives in Leipzig.
Screening 3: Sunday (!), February 1, 2026, „Blonder Tango“ (Lothar Warneke, DDR 1985), starting at 11:00 am (!), Kinoklub Erfurt – The award-winning feature film attracted large audiences in the GDR. It tells the story of a Chilean man who flees to the GDR after the 1973 coup in Chile. The film shows the challenges of life in exile and the limits of the appeal to so-called international friendship within state socialism in East Germany. The lead actor, Alejandro Quintana, will be present for the talk afterwards.
Screening 4: Tuesday, February 3, 2026, „Exil“ (Jutta Soto, Staatliches Filmarchiv, DDR 1985), starting at 06:00 pm, Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstraße – With the documentary “Exil,” we revisit a special piece of archival history. Starting in 1971, the DEFA film studio had a working group dedicated to state film documentation. It produced over 300 documentaries that provided an uncensored view of East German society. These films were not intended to be shown at the time. They were meant to serve as a film archive for future generations. For the documentary “Exil,” people who fled to the GDR after the coup in Chile were interviewed. They talk about the paternalistic policies of the SED and their personal feelings of loneliness and depression in exile. The film and cultural scholar Dr. Anne Barnert, who has conducted extensive research on the history of the DEFA’s state film documentation, will be present as a discussion partner this evening.
