Schlager einer kleinen Stadt (Small Town Evergreens)

A 60-minute compilation from GDR television and the DEFA Newsreel “Der Augenzeuge” (“The Eyewitness”), in which contract work appears as a gift from the GDR to socialist “brotherlands”. A euphemistic, often paternalistic gaze upon the “guests”, which reveals much about the self-representation of the GDR, but little about the realities of the migrants’ lives. By spanning the period from 1964-1980, the program demonstrates how the language and context of GDR-Internationalism was constantly changing.

Dr. Massimo Perinelli is a historian and works at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. He is a member of Kanak Attak, co-founder of the initiative "Keupstraße is everywhere" and co-founded the Tribunal "Dissolve NSU Complex". He has published on gender and sexuality, as well as on racism and migrant struggles.