Abstract

The cinema of the GDR has seen a steep rise in popularity since German unification. DEFA is now a popular “brand,” with its films being omnipresent on television, in movie theaters, and on DVD, Blu-ray, and online streaming video. Reasons for this success are located in the current infrastructure of DEFA cinema. Since 1999, DEFA-Stiftung, Progress Filmverleih, and Icestorm Entertainment have (re-)introduced the GDR’s cinematic legacy to German culture, where audiences embrace the new media as reminders of a bygone time. (SH)

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