An exciting chapter of recent German film history was the focus of a special Berlinale series, “Rebellion of the filmmakers” (Aufbruch der Filmemacher). The starting point was the documentary film Gegenschuss – Aufbruch der Filmemacher (Reverse Angle – Rebellion of the Filmmakers) which deals with the origins, development and crises of the legendary film publisher, Filmverlag der Autoren, in the early nineteen seventies. Producers and authors such as Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders, Thomas Schamoni, Michael Fengler, Veith von Fürstenberg, Hans W. Geißendörfer and Hark Bohm are synonymous with this turbulent, vibrant and also contentious period in the history of German film.

 

The documentary film Gegenschuss – Aufbruch der Filmemacher with archive material, interviews and film clips premiered on February 11, 2008 in the Berlin Zoo-Palast cinema. The film was made in cooperation between the director, Dominik Wessely (Die Unzerbrechlichen), the producer Rainer Kölmel, the master cutter Anja Pohl and the author, producer and former managing director of the Filmverlag Laurens Straub, who passed away one year ago.

 

“The Zoo-Palast is ideal for this premiere and also the perfect location to honour a significant personality from the history of German film and a good friend, Laurens Straub,” said festival Director Dieter Kosslick. Many affiliates, friends and supporters of German cinema and also opponents of the Filmverlag were in the cinema and on stage this evening.

To mark the occasion of the documentary, a series of seven feature films began on Saturday February 9, 2008 in Filmkunst 66, a cinema with strong historical ties to the Filmverlag. Films were shown which have since become classics (such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Fears Eats the Soul) or which have unjustly become forgotten (such as I Love You, I Kill You by Uwe Brandner). Alfred Holighaus, curator of the series explained, “For many years the Berlinale has demonstrated in all sections that the present state of German films is really quite healthy. So it makes sense to offer the German and international audiences some insight into the history, without which the present would be inconceivable.”