Beate Schönfeldt

With their border crossings, transit routes and their control by the “Volks-Polizei” (GDR police), with their concrete slabs and their history of construction, reaching back to the “Reichsautobahn” of the National Socialist era, the AUTOBAHN east stands as an example of German and German-German history. With a flair for anecdotes and situations, big politics and the small folks along the side of the road, Gerd Kroske has filmed a documentary, which refers back to the educational films of the transit police and footage of surveillance cameras of the state security and shows much more than a piece of “civil engineering” history.

Alle Ideen beginnen als Traum (All Ideas Begin as a Dream) (1987) is an East German documentary directed by Annelie Thorndike. The film follows Professor Dr. Heiner Vollstädt and his groundbreaking research at the Central Institute for Earth Physics in Potsdam, where he has spent years working on the production of synthetic diamonds for industrial applications in the GDR. Through a combination of observational footage and narration, the documentary highlights the dedication of East German scientists and the intersection of scientific discovery with economic development.

In Saxon-Anhalt, near the town of Zerbst, set away from busy roads, next to a deserted military landing strip, is the village of Straguth. An unimportant place. Lost in time. Or ahead of time. The film describes the people of this quiet place, in the past, the present and the future. A film like the digging of a hole. If one could dig in spiral form. And dig a black hole. An archaeological journey to landscape, people and things, traces of changing times and transition. Wide open landscapes and detailed drawings of people within. And on entering Otto Nathos’ modest bar, there is always talk of the war. The era of youth.