German Cinema

Abstract

German film has had a uniquely prolific and diverse history. Its output ranges from experimental efforts during the Weimar era, including its renowned Expressionist films; to a heavily controlled nationalized cinema under the Third Reich; to unadventurous but popular genre films from “Western” and “Eastern” industries in the 1950s; to the inquisitive Neue Deutsche Film (New German Cinema) in the late 1960s through the early 1980s; to post-unification fiction films exploring German themes in transnational, multiethnic contexts. Throughout its history, this compelling national cinema has attracted an active group of intellectuals, from cultural critics such as Walter Benjamin and Siegfried Kracauer in the Weimar era to a wide range of contemporary film historians across the globe. It attracts feminist and queer scholars and transnational and ethnic studies scholars. Germany’s two art film movements, Expressionism and the New German Cinema, have generated considerable scholarly discussion, but more recently, popular and even disparaged forms and periods (e.g., the sentimental Heimat film, Nazi cinema, etc.) have received more attention.