Censored: Kuhle Wampe

Overview

A detailed reconstruction of the censorship case against the landmark Weimar-era communist film, Kuhle Wampe, or Who Owns the World? (1932). Directed by Slatan Dudow, the crew and cast included left-wing luminaries, such as playwright Bertolt Brecht, composer Hanns Eisler and balladeer Ernst Busch. The film was the subject of vehement disputes and was banned twice for revolutionary and communist tendencies that were perceived to threaten the state. About 230 meters of the original film fell victim to the censor’s shears. This historic censorship case was argued over the course of three sessions. Censored: Kuhle Wampe re-enacts the censorship hearings, based on original minutes and documents, as well as personal records of the case. In addition to footage from the original film, this docudrama includes original clips of Berlin in the 1920s and '30s and short testimonies, filmed in the 1970s, with some of the actors involved in the original Kuhle Wampe film production.

Details

Status

Released

Release date

May 2, 1975

Original language

German

Spoken languages

German

Countries

East Germany

Production

DEFA,Fernsehen der DDR

Cast

Richard Schrader,Erika Pelikowsky,Harald Halgardt,Wolfgang Greese,Erik S. Klein,Erwin Geschonneck,Adolf Peter Hoffmann,Kurt Böwe,Jürgen Holtz,Peter Kalischand 4 more

Director

Christa Mühl,Werner Hecht

Writer

Christa Mühl,Werner Hecht

Budget

Not recorded

Revenue

Not recorded

IMDb

tt0364340