The (Restored) Practice of DEFA Co-productions with the “Normalized” Czechoslovak Film Studio in the 1970s
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Mass media, audiovision |
| Keywords | film co-productions; DEFA; Barrandov; normalization; film industry |
| Description | The article focuses on a renewal of cooperation between the film studios Barrandov and DEFA at the start of so called normalization in Czechoslovakia. while the end of independent production groups at DEFA and Barrandov certainly damaged the creative environment and the quality of productions as a whole, it also had an unforeseeable effect: namely, the revival of DEFA-Barrandov co-productions. On the German side, DEFA was interested in financial and technical support and, above all, in help from experienced practitioners, especially scriptwriters. On the Czech side, Barrandov´s filmmakers—now isolated from previous contact with western partners and under strict ideological control—strove to shape the DEFA projects they were offered according to their own criteria, where before they might have rejected projects they considered to be of dubious quality. There was thus a harmonization of goals and tools, which worked especially well in the sphere of children movies. |
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