Magical History Tour: Silent Revolutionary Montages and Film Propaganda with Sound

The replacement of silent film, which had reached its peak in formal as well as scenical terms, by the comprehensive introduction of sound film at the end of the 1920s counts as the most radical change in the fundamental conditions of cinematography. The total conversion to sound film occurred at a rapid pace, something which confronted not only German cinema with huge financial, technical and not least artistic challenges. This month's Magical History Tour gives an impression of the struggle with the new medium of sound film and retraces in an exemplary way the further development of sound film in Germany from 1930 to 1945 (between technical innovation and propagandistic manipulation). The second focus is on the seminal works of Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Kuleshov, and others – including evocations of pre-revolutionary moments that make use of a wide variety of editing concepts. They rank among the great masterpieces of international (silent) film. The success of many of the Soviet films present this month began in Berlin, where publicists such as Alfred Kerr enthusiastically welcomed the genre of "Russian film" and championed it in the world.