Abstract
During the last 15 years, the city of Berlin has dominated German cinema as the metaphoric site of the continued negotiation of a new national identity. This article examines two films, Lichter (Schmid 2003) and Halbe Treppe (Dresen 2002), which are both set in the eastern border town of Frankfurt (Oder). It is argued that both films try to offer a counter-model to the Berlin discourse by constructing German identity as explicitly European rather than distinctly German, and by attempting to dissociate themselves from myths surrounding Berlin which defy a more objective perception of reality. The article analyses and compares the use of spatial metaphors and stylistic conventions which connect the films to European realist film traditions. The location of Frankfurt (Oder) sharpens the awareness for social divisions and, at the same time, shifts the focus from exploring an inner-German identity to the broader perspective of Europe.
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