Looking at one's own life - what and how does one remember?

Concrete biographies of people often tell us more about the past and present of a society and a country than reports with their historicized footage. Two lives and their cinematic realization are the focus of this film evening. In Helke Misselwitz's 35 FOTOS (GDR 1985), sound engineer Karin R. reflects on her life in East Berlin using pictures from her family album. She looks back on turning points, over which she sometimes had no influence and draws strength from the past. While reading his letters to the family, a business journalist in the documentary ICH WAR EIN GLÜCKLICHER MENSCH (Eduard Schreiber, GDR 1990) discerns cracks and fractures. The contradictions of the convinced communist are a small allegory of the GDR. The two lives are framed by two musical arabesques by filmmaker Heinz Nagel. The misfit in the DEFA animation studio created his own universe unflinchingly and made compositions sensually and visually tangible through abstract plays of color. (Stefanie Eckert)

Films:
Humoreske Heinz Nagel GDR 1981 DCP 4 min.
35 Fotos – Sujet aus DEFA-Kinobox 1985/39 Helke Misselwitz GDR 1985 DCP 7 min.
Suite Heinz Nagel GDR 1981 DCP 5 min.
Ich war ein glücklicher Mensch Eduard Schreiber GDR 1990 35 mm 60 min.