Furnace Builders

Sculptor Makolies is filmed working on a sculpture in the middle of a quarry in Swiss Saxony. The quarry workers go about their work around him. Both the work in the quarry and the work on the large figure in sandstone require strenght and conscientiousness. This film observers both types of work, without comparing them.

Kochberg Castle was once owned by the von Stein family and Goethe visited Charlotte von Stein there several times. On the occasion of the "1000 years of Weimar" celebrations, the castle, which has been converted into a memorial, is being opened to the public. At the inauguration ceremony, students of the Weimar Academy of Music will give a large festive concert. On the basis of old engravings and personal letters and pictures the audience learns more about the relationship between Goethe and Charlotte von Stein.

Böttchers film showcases three young workers who learn how to paint, draw, and make sculptures out of stone. The film generated a storm of mistrust, as there is no leading communist party, and the three individuals live blithely and independently of the official dictates. It became one of the first DEFA documentary productions that were not allowed to be shown.

This black and white documentary film reports from the Berlin Zoo, located in the Friedrichsfelde district of the Lichtenberg district, was opened in 1955 and is the largest landscape animal garden in Europe with an area of 160 hectares. With shots worth seeing, you can experience the animals in their enclosures and spacious free running areas. The film gets along completely without commentary and directs the concentrated view to hippos, parrots, camels, red deer, bison, llamas, kangaroos, rhinoceroses; lynxes, birds, leopards, tigers, lions, polar bears and crocodiles.

A documentary about French film director Agnès Varda on the set of her 1977 film ONE SINGS, THE OTHER DOESN'T. It includes interviews with Varda and the lead actors in the film.

Venus after Giorgione is the the second part of the "Over Paintings" (Uebermalungen) trilogy by painter and director STRAWALDE (Juergen Boettcher). Using various methods of "painting over" or projecting on top of Giorgione's "Sleeping Venus," Boettcher alienates the work artistically. Venus' beauty is seen within a new context and is thereby newly interpreted through the eyes of STRAWALDE. The assorted landscapes behind Venus range from idyllic pastorales to morbid backgrounds. STRAWALDE's art knows no boundaries and makes a strong impression on the viewer with bizarre sound collages.

A cinematic visit to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The camera usually observes the visitors and paints their views on scenes of the ensemble of figures. The amazement at the beauty and grace of the antique sculptures is reflected in the faces of the viewers and emotion is palpable. The visitors come from all over the world - one sees Indians, Asians, Blacks. All age groups are represented, from children to old people. They come individually or in groups and communicate about what they see. The film gets along without any comment. You see more pictures of the visitors than of the altar. This means that it is important for the film to show the cultural interest of the people. Gerhard Rosenfeld creates atmospheric music with a classical feel to it.

Impressionistic East German documentary filmed mainly in the Georgian countryside in 1986-1987. The director, a painter, wanted to see if similar scenes to those found in the work of Georgian painter Niko Pirosmanishvili still existed there.

A black-and-white documentary film about the large housing estate "Lütten Klein" in the northwest of Rostock in June 1968. On the basis of the construction worker and shop steward Hans Schmidt, the efforts to fulfil the plan are clearly shown, even if the supplies and weather conditions are not optimal. The group meeting of the construction brigade shown here describes, among other things, the hardships and disappointments of some of the workers on the construction site. On the other hand, the construction management and shop steward Schmidt try to motivate the workers to achieve even higher performance by demanding competition and obligations.

Documentary on the 1000-year-old town of Weimar. The film presents an example of the victory of humanist traditions over nazi brutality.

Martha Bieder is the last rubble-woman in Berlin Rummelsburg. Every day, rain or shine, she stands at the conveyor belt - as she has for decades - sorting through rubble. After a retirement party thrown for her by her male colleagues, she tells her story of being a rubble-woman in post-war Germany.

Böttcher made his graduation film about young people who had become delinquent in a youth work yard in Thuringia. Already here a striking feature of his later films becomes apparent: Jürgen Böttcher gives his protagonists a lot of space; he approaches them without prejudice, empathetically and carefully. In addition, his curiosity can be felt in the life situations and stories of his characters.

Potter's Bull is the first part of the "Over-Paintings" Trilogy (Uebermalungen) by painter and director STRAWALDE (Juergen Boettcher). Paulus Potter's simple postcard scene entitled "The Young Bull" ("den jungen Stier") is artistically alienated in an imposing fashion. By using assorted means of "painting over" and/or front projections, the figure of the bull in the center of the card is placed in a state of constant flux. A viewer may also choose to follow the shifting background behind the bull, which continues to recontextualize the bull in shifting worlds. Accompanied by a sound collage.

Experienced shunters working at the Dresden-Friedrichstadt goods yard. In all weathers, day and night, they couple and uncouple the wagons. The air is full of sound: hammering, steps crunching on the gravel, whistles and shunting noises.

This film portraits the artist and model-builder Hermann Gloeckner, who was born in Dresden in 1889. Even at the age of 96 he is still drawing with undiminished creative energy.

With films including the 'rubble woman' portrait Martha, the three-part experimental film cycle Potter's Stier, Venus nach Giorgione and Frau am Klavichord, the portrait of the artist Kurzer Besuch bei Hermann Glöckner, and also the documentaries Rangierer and Die Küche, noted for their outstanding sound and visuals, Jürgen Böttcher distances himself yet further from the didactic tone and abstract heroic representation of socialist films.