Film Exchange beyond the Ban: Erich Mehl’s Partnership with the East German Film Studio DEFA (1954–1990)

This article traces continuities that link the postwar interzonal film exchange between East and West Germany with the trade in film rights during the Cold War. Financier Erich Mehl, who popularized East German cinema abroad, fostered this exchange by challenging the FRG’s ban on inter-German coproductions and utilizing a wide network of professionals in his partnership with DEFA. Analysis of this successful business model bridges the divide between scholarship on the interzonal film trade and on post-1950 coproductions and import/export patterns. Both individual agency and transnational mediation are indispensable for a holistic understanding of the cinematic dialogue across the Cold War divide.