FIlm Schools in East and West Germany

Introduced by Ying Sze Pek

Cultural Nationalism
Skip Norman, Federal Republic of Germany, 1969, 11 min. English

On Africa
Skip Norman, Federal Republic of Germany, 1970, 35 min. German with English subtitles

Oyoyo
Chetna Vora, German Democratic Republic, 1980, 47 min. German with English Subtitles

The second event in the series examines the transnational film practices of students at film academies in former West and East Germany. The evening focuses on two exemplary filmmakers: Skip Norman’s Cultural Nationalism (1969) combines a speech by Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, with a shot of a snowy field in West Berlin, thematizing racial and class disenfranchisement. In On Africa (1970), Norman juxtaposes tracking shots of Berlin, with photographs and economic data on West Africa, producing an essay film that explores the continent’s underdevelopment, conquest, and decolonization. Shot in a student residence in Karlshorst, Berlin, Chetna Vora’s Oyoyo (1980) features the lived experiences of foreign students in the former German Democratic Republic, highlighting intimate moments of friendship and transnational solidarity. (CK)

Ying Sze Pek is a scholar working at the intersection of film and media studies, global modern and contemporary art history, and German studies.

OYOYO, Chetna Vora, Film and Television Academy of the GDR 1980
Digitisation and restoration of the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, supported by the Film Heritage Funding Programme, financed by BKM, Länder and FFA.