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Censored: Kuhle Wampe

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A detailed reconstruction of the censorship case against the landmark Weimar-era communist film, Kuhle Wampe, or Who Owns the World? (1932). Directed by Slatan Dudow, the crew and cast included left-wing luminaries, such as playwright Bertolt Brecht, composer Hanns Eisler and balladeer Ernst Busch. The film was the subject of vehement disputes and was banned twice for revolutionary and communist tendencies that were perceived to threaten the state. About 230 meters of the original film fell victim to the censor’s shears. This historic censorship case was argued over the course of three sessions. Censored: Kuhle Wampe re-enacts the censorship hearings, based on original minutes and documents, as well as personal records of the case. In addition to footage from the original film, this docudrama includes original clips of Berlin in the 1920s and '30s and short testimonies, filmed in the 1970s, with some of the actors involved in the original Kuhle Wampe film production.

Cast & crew

Erwin Geschonneck · Peter Kalisch · Erik S. Klein · Adolf Peter Hoffmann · Erika Pelikowsky · Werner Hecht · Jürgen Holtz · Margit Schaumäker · Wolfgang Greese · Christa Mühl · Wolfgang Lohse · Kurt Böwe

Studios & networks

DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme · Fernsehen der DDR