Zustand und Gelände

How do you use cinema to reveal unknown historical episodes? Last year, Wang Bing answered that question with Dead Souls, a film based on interviews testifying to the early years of repression under Mao. In Status and Terrain, Ute Adamczewski juxtaposes a mountain of archival material (official reports, administrative correspondence and testimonials) and scenes filmed in the cities of the former DDR, exposing coercive political measures implemented as early as 1933 and lasting into the 1950s, as well as a culture of historical forgetfulness and erasure. This dense, complex film reveals a fragile Germany that remains haunted by a past that it takes pains to keep out of the public eye.

Status and Terrain