DEUTSCHE TRILOGIE

Presented by Dr. Elisa Jochum, head of Audiovisual Heritage – Film at the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen

Deutschlandbilder (1982-83) – co-directed with Heiner Mühlenbrock – 60 min
Reichsautobahn (1984-86) – 91 min
Der VW Komplex (1988-89) – 93 min

Deutschlandbilder, the first documentary of the so-called “German Trilogy”, investigates the aesthetics and workings of filmic imagery in National-Socialist Germany. Reichsautobahn narrows in on the highly ideologised motorway infrastructure for which the Hitler regime appropriated construction plans from the Weimar Republic. Der VW Komplex finally engages with the Volkswagen automobile industry from its launch in the 1930s to its role in post-war West Germany. The trilogy makes visible a vast array of archival material to produce a thought-provoking study of cultural narratives whose impact on notions of Germany – inside and outside the country – can still be felt today.

The restorer – DEUTSCHE KINEMATHEK – MUSEUM FÜR FILM UND FERNSEHEN

The Film Archive of the Deutsche Kinemathek contains works from all eras of German and international filmmaking and from all genres of feature and documentary cinema as well as experimental, ephemeral and amateur films (such as home movies, adverts and trailers).

The archive is not intended to be comprehensive but rather offers a curated collection for researchers and the public. It puts particular emphasis on works from the early days of cinema, films from Berlin production companies, artistic documentary films, films from students at the German Film and Television Academy (dffb), the “Neue Deutsche Film” wave (1960s) and the “Berliner Schule” (1990s). In addition, attention is given to films that are not collected elsewhere in Germany and whose preservation is hence at risk.

Photo credit: © Deutsche Kinemathek – Reichsautobahn