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Censorship in East German Film: This is the part that I wrote; the article itself already had a small piece written for it, which I did not delete.

Overview

Film censorship in the Germany Democratic Republic (GDR) began as a way prevent Western Values from spreading from the Allied occupied zones of West Germany into the Soviet occupied zones of East Germany. Censorship of film and other media was strictly de facto; the constitution of the GDR guaranteed freedom of the media and film. However, several forms of soft censorship were used to prevent the public from viewing certain films.

FSK and Film Regulation

While censorship was on the surface officially banned by the GDR constitution, in practice, it was used extensively, particularly when it came to the censorship of American and Western films. During the immediate post WWII period, while the GDR was still working to establish legitimacy, direct censorship was not a viable option. The GDR worked hard to separate its own ideal from American and Western Ideals, which they viewed as a threat to the Communist ideals During the early years of the Republic, between the 1950’s and 1970’s the East German government employed what they called Freiwillege Slebstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft, (FSK) which roughly translates to the Voluntary Self-Regulatory Body of the Film Industry. Though the name would suggest the organization was made up of volunteers, the actual members of the organization were appointed by the GDR government. Many of these members worked in the film industry prior to the split of East and West Germany. These members were tasked with screening each film before it was release to the public. This organization censored numerous American and Western films claiming them to be unfit for public viewing. Although approval of the FSK was to explicitly required, many theaters in the GDR refused to show films that were not on the FSK approved list. The inner workings of the FSK were kept mostly secret from German citizens. The GDR's government did not want the average citizen to know they were being censored, in an effort to distance itself from its recent fascist past.

Film Production In Germany

Germans in the pre WWII period were avid cinema goers. Over a billion cinema tickets were sold in 1943 alone in Germany. After Germany’s surrender during the second world war, German citizens continued to flock to cinemas in large numbers; cinemas re opened even before Germany officially surrendered. Before the official split of East and West Germany, Allied films were shown. As the rift between East and West became deeper and deeper, fewer Allied films were shown and were replaced with Soviet films. German citizens became well acquainted with Soviet accomplishments and the pitfalls of fascism. As the Soviets began to withdraw, the East German Government re-vamped an old Nazi era film production company. They centralized all the former Germany film production companies in and around Berlin into one monopolized film company called the Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft (DFA). This company held a monopoly on every stage of film production in the GDR and was responsible for all film production released to the public.

Citations

Boyer, Dominic. “Censorship as a Vocation: The Institutions, Practices, and Cultural Logic of Media Control in the German Democratic Republic.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 45, no. 3, 2003, pp. 511–545. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3879460.

This source outlines overall censorship techniques used by communist governments. The source examines which techniques were used by the GDR to sensor media and film. It also focuses specifically on censorship in the immediate post war period. This source will be used in the background section of the Wikipedia article on East German censorship.

Brockman, Stephan. "The Struggle Over Audiences In Post War East German Film." Film and History 45.1 (2015): n. pg. Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

This source focuses specifically on audience viewership of movies in East Germany. Brockman outlines the struggle that the East German government faced to get people to see state approved films. In many cases, these films were used as propaganda and the state censored other non-government approved films.

Ehrig, Stephan. "Rereading East Germany: The Literature and Film of the GDR." Modern Language Review 111.4 (2016): n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

This source re-examines the roll that film and literature played in the German Democratic Republic. Ehrig notes that film and literature in many cases was not considered a factor in the fall of the communist government in East Germany. This source also examined the roll that film and literature played in everyday East German life.

Galchen, Rikva. "Wild West Germany." Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. University of Washington, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

This source examines the fascination that most East Germans had with American

cowboys and American Western Films. Galchen goes on to note that this interest

lead to further interest in US films, which the government tried to censor.

I am planning to use this source when talking about specific film that the GDR

government tried to censor.

Gerhardt, Christina. "Looking East: Christian Petzold's Barbara (2012)." Quarterly Review of Film and Video 33.6 (2016): n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

This source was published in a review journal and features a film review of

Barbara. The reason this source is included in the bibliography is that the

review mentions references in the film to East German censorship under

Communist rule. The source will provide references to Communist censorship in

popular culture.

Horten, Gerd. "The Impact of Hollywood Film Imports in East Germany and the Cultural Surrender of the GDR Film Control in the 1970s and 1980s." German History 34.1 (2016): n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

This source covers the East German government’s relaxation in control when it came film censorship towards the end of the 1970’s and 1980’s. I am planning to use this source for a section in my article about softening of censorship

towards the end of the communist rule. I am also planning to use this source to

examine whether or not relaxing censorship rules had any effect on the  reunification of East and West Germany.

Jolley, Rachael. "After the Fall." Index on Censorship 43.2 (2014): n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

This source examines censorship after the reunification of East and West

Germany. Jolley touches on certain censors that were put in place after the

reunification in order to ensure cohesion. This source will be used for a section of the Wikipedia article about censorship in East Germany after Reunification.

Keil, Andre. "The Preußenrenaissance Revisited: German-German Entanglements, the Media and the Politics of History in the Late German Democratic Republic." German History 34.2 (2016): n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

This source focuses specifically on the relationship between the East German

government’s relationship with the media and film industry towards the last years

of Communist rule. This source will be used for a section of the article that highlights censorship in the GDR towards the end of communist rule. This section will cover the relaxation of communist censorship of the media and film industries.

Koststskaya, Anastasia. "East Or West, Rodina is Best: Shaping a Socialist 'Heimat' In German and Soviet Film Of the Occupation Period." German Life & Letters 69.4 (2016): n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

This source focuses specifically on film and media censorship during the early

days of the German Democratic Republic. During this time, East Germany was

still occupied by Soviet forces. This source will be used for a section of the article regarding media and film censorship in the early days of the GDR.

Millington, Richard. "The Limits of Control: The Public Discourse About the June 17th 1953 Uprisings in Novels and Films in the German Democratic Republic." German History 31.1 (2013): 42-60. EBSCOhost. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

In this article, Millington discusses the dialoged surrounding the 1953 uprisings

against the communist party in East Germany. This source is included because it

illustrates the GDR’s ability to censor and suppress uprisings through media and

film. There will be a section in the article about government response to uprising and subsequent suppression the uprisings and the role that film censorship played in that suppression.