The Party and the Filmmakers: DEFA-­‐SED Interactions 1945 to 1971

This dissertation covers the interrelationship between the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and the filmmakers of the feature film studio at the German Film Corporation (DEFA) in the German Democratic Republic

(GDR). The interactions between the two from 1945 to 1971

reveal a great deal about the overarching cultural-­‐ ideological framework of the SED, and the ideological

development of the GDR. As the sole ruling party of the GDR, the SED maintained a strong hold over the country,

and developed an effective party-­‐state, in which the party

mirrored all state offices and maintained strong ties to every

aspect of the state. This dissertation is chronologically

split between 5 chapters, each covering a separate five year

period of time from 1945 to 1971. These years bookend

the first era for the GDR, and go from its founding until the

first head of the SED, and head of the GDR, Walter Ulbricht

was removed from power in 1971. This period highlights

the developmental era for the GDR, and its emergence as

a stable political state. For DEFA this period covers its

foundation through its most difficult moment in 1965, in

which the leadership of the SED banned all 12 films produced by DEFA that year, and its years of renewed

stability thereafter. The use of a specific political era to

define the chorological boundaries for this dissertation

allows for a deeper comparative view, in which each

chapter covers the developments of film policy by the SED,

then looks as how filmmakers at DEFA who were SED members interpreted the policy, and then covers an exemplar film from that specific period. When taken in

combination the dissertation tells three distinct, but directly

related stories, that of the development of film policy by

the SED, the struggles of filmmakers to interpret and implement policy at their studio, and the shifts in filmmaking

and ideology in film. For the time being this dissertation

will be embargoed, however it you would like to contact

me about my research, or the contents of this dissertation

you can do so at stepp.jonathan@gmail.com