Experimental Television from the 1960s and 70s

To coincide with the “Experimental Television from the 1960s and 70s” exhibition, the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen will be showing the film ROTMORD (Peter Zadek, FDR 1969, July 6) based on the play Toller by Tankred Dorst. ROTMORD, which tells the story of the Bavarian Soviet Republic from its hopeful beginnings to its tragic failure, was one of the most heavily discussed television films of the 1960s. At the time of the student protests, director Zadek and screenwriter Dorst tell the story of left-wing writer Ernst Toller (Gert Baltus), who fails in his role as champion of the Soviet Republic due to his political inexperience and personal instability. The film uses electronic alienation effects and a blend of documentary footage and fictional elements to create a distance to the figures it is portraying. Film director Andres Veiel will be talking to Tankred Dorst about the possibilities of filming historical events following the screening. (Gerlinde Waz)