Book:

Das Kino der VRP im DDR-Alltag. Die Rezeption polnischer, im Lichtspielwesen der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik verliehener Spielfilme, auf der Grundlage der Analyse von Presserezensionen aus den Jahren 1949 – 1990

With the end of the Second World War, and the formation of the DDR in 1949, a new chapter in the history of German-Polish relations began. The DDR and the People''s Republic of Poland were placed under the control of the Soviet Union, and as “brother lands” were encouraged to foster a mutual contact and exchange in various areas. One such area of exchange was in cultural life, of which a significant part was the sharing of films from both countries. In the years 1949-1990 over 300 Polish films were distributed in East German cinemas, an indisputably significant figure. The great majority of these films were reviewed in the DDR press, and in fact reviews of the cinematic offerings from the People's Republic of Poland formed a regular component of East German newspapers during this period of 40 years. Over this time, thousands of reviews of Polish films were written, a large number of which are analysed in this dissertation. The analysis of press articles forms a picture of how Polish film productions were regarded by DDR journalists, but also reveals the changing relationship between the two countries in the period from 1949 to 1989. Thus the political situation in these neighbouring countries forms the background of this dissertation, with each chapter discussing one of five important historical phases. Two sub-chapters of this dissertation are devoted to a discussion of the East German reception of the films of Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Zanussi – two of Poland''s most important post-war directors.