In February 1968 the Socialist German Student Association (SDS) staged the ‘Vietnam Congress’ in Berlin. This event marked the beginning of the student protest movement which went down in history as ‘May 1968’. The congress triggered the German student movement which gradually switched its main focus from the war in the Middle East to concentrate on the young Federal Republic and its own post-war history.

 

The Berlinale and the Federal Centre for Political Education took the fortieth anniversary of the Vietnam Congress to retrace the American perspective of the Vietnam War in a compact film programme. Hollywood produced critical feature films, such as M.A.S.H. (Robert Altman, 1970) and Catch 22 (Mike Nichols 1971) which simultaneously marked the beginning of New Hollywood. The programme also included documentaries and protest films depicting the trauma that the war unleashed at home. Screenings of the War at Home series took place from 8 to 15 February in the Filmpalast Berlin.

 

The film programme complemented a series of events accompanying the exhibition ‘'68 - Brennpunkt Berlin’ organized by the Federal Centre for Political Education at Amerika Haus in Berlin. The programme extended through to May 2008 with readings, panel discussions and eye-witness talks about the consequences of the student movement. The events also embraced a comprehensive series of 1968 films which included repeat screenings of a number of the films from the Berlinale programme.