Editing Socialist realism (section)

==== Film ====
Film was used as a teaching tool for East German cultural values. [[DEFA]] was the GDR's official film studio, which created such films.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blessing |first=Benita |date=2010 |title=Happily socialist ever after? East German children's films and the education of a fairy tale land |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25699580 |journal=Oxford Review of Education |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=234 |doi=10.1080/03054981003696747 |jstor=25699580 |issn=0305-4985}}</ref> DEFA's socialist realist films were especially geared towards East German youth, as the next generation of the GDR. Leader of the SMAD's propaganda wing, [[Sergei Tiulpanov]], asserted that the primary goal of DEFA was "the struggle to re-educate the German people–especially the young–to a true understanding of genuine democracy and humanism."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walinski-Kiehl |first=Robert |date=2006 |title=History, Politics, and East German Film: The Thomas Müntzer (1956) Socialist Epic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20457093 |journal=Central European History |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=34 |doi=10.1017/S0008938906000021 |jstor=20457093 |issn=0008-9389}}</ref> The studio produced children's films to influence them, as they believed these types of films to be effective in emphasizing good citizenship and how to show children how to emulate this.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blessing |first=Benita |date=2010 |title=Happily socialist ever after? East German children's films and the education of a fairy tale land |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25699580 |journal=Oxford Review of Education |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=235 |doi=10.1080/03054981003696747 |jstor=25699580 |issn=0305-4985}}</ref>

[[Gerhard Lamprecht|Gerhard Lamprecht's]] [[Somewhere in Berlin]] (German: ''Irgendwo in Berlin'') was one of DEFA's most notable films.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blessing |first=Benita |date=2010 |title=Happily socialist ever after? East German children's films and the education of a fairy tale land |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25699580 |journal=Oxford Review of Education |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=237 |doi=10.1080/03054981003696747 |jstor=25699580 |issn=0305-4985}}</ref> Though the film was produced in 1946, three years before the GDR was established, it was a foundation point for a broader development of East German socialist realist film. An antifascist film, Lamprecht emphasizes the necessity of "reconstructing the nation" after World War II.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blessing |first=Benita |date=2010 |title=Happily socialist ever after? East German children's films and the education of a fairy tale land |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25699580 |journal=Oxford Review of Education |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=237 |doi=10.1080/03054981003696747 |jstor=25699580 |issn=0305-4985}}</ref> Preliminary East German films like ''Somewhere in Berlin'' "laid the groundwork for a national film culture based in pedagogical intent."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blessing |first=Benita |date=2010 |title=Happily socialist ever after? East German children's films and the education of a fairy tale land |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25699580 |journal=Oxford Review of Education |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=237 |doi=10.1080/03054981003696747 |jstor=25699580 |issn=0305-4985}}</ref>

Some DEFA films were also derived from earlier German fairytales that predated the GDR. [[Paul Verhoeven (German director)|Paul Verhoeven's]] [[Heart of Stone (1950 film)|''The Cold Heart'']] (German: ''Das kalte Herz)'' was one of such films, which was based on the [[The Cold Heart|story]] written by [[Wilhelm Hauff]] of the same title.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blessing |first=Benita |date=2010 |title=Happily socialist ever after? East German children's films and the education of a fairy tale land |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25699580 |journal=Oxford Review of Education |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=237 |doi=10.1080/03054981003696747 |jstor=25699580 |issn=0305-4985}}</ref> The film was produced to serve as a good example of how a person should treat others. The film's main messages centered on the pitfalls of greed and the value of loving personal relationships.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blessing |first=Benita |date=2010 |title=Happily socialist ever after? East German children's films and the education of a fairy tale land |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25699580 |journal=Oxford Review of Education |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=237–238 |doi=10.1080/03054981003696747 |jstor=25699580 |issn=0305-4985}}</ref>

DEFA also employed films to be used as history lessons for the people of East Germany, namely those about the German Peasants' War. [[Martin Hellberg|Martin Hellberg's]] [[Thomas Muentzer (film)]] told the stories of his leadership and the revolution in a heroic and idealistic portrayal.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walinski-Kiehl |first=Robert |date=2006 |title=History, Politics, and East German Film: The Thomas Müntzer (1956) Socialist Epic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20457093 |journal=Central European History |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=30–55 |doi=10.1017/S0008938906000021 |jstor=20457093 |issn=0008-9389}}</ref> DEFA saw Hellberg's film proposal as an opportunity to teach about German revolutionary history, as a means of preventing a descent into fascism again.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walinski-Kiehl |first=Robert |date=2006 |title=History, Politics, and East German Film: The Thomas Müntzer (1956) Socialist Epic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20457093 |journal=Central European History |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=35 |doi=10.1017/S0008938906000021 |jstor=20457093 |issn=0008-9389}}</ref> The producers gave the actor portraying Müntzer lines that embrace Marxist thought, to clearly communicate ideals of socialism and the roles of the working class to viewers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walinski-Kiehl |first=Robert |date=2006 |title=History, Politics, and East German Film: The Thomas Müntzer (1956) Socialist Epic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20457093 |journal=Central European History |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=48 |doi=10.1017/S0008938906000021 |jstor=20457093 |issn=0008-9389}}</ref> Ideas about property re-distribution and a proletariat victory over the ruling classes are conveyed in the film's depiction of the revolutionary leader.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walinski-Kiehl |first=Robert |date=2006 |title=History, Politics, and East German Film: The Thomas Müntzer (1956) Socialist Epic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20457093 |journal=Central European History |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=48 |doi=10.1017/S0008938906000021 |jstor=20457093 |issn=0008-9389}}</ref>