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| DEFA Foundation | |
|---|---|
| Name | DEFA Foundation |
| Caption | Logo of the DEFA Foundation |
| Formation | 1990 |
| Type | Foundation |
| Purpose | Preservation of film heritage |
| Headquarters | Berlin |
| Region served | Germany, Europe |
| Leader title | Director |
DEFA Foundation
The DEFA Foundation is a Berlin-based nonprofit institution dedicated to preserving, restoring, and promoting the films and cultural legacy of the former East German studio DEFA. It maintains extensive holdings of motion pictures, documents, and artifacts, and coordinates exhibitions, screenings, and scholarly publications to integrate the collection into European and global film heritage networks. The Foundation collaborates with archives, museums, and universities to safeguard cinematic works and to facilitate access for researchers, filmmakers, and the public.
The Foundation emerged from the post-reunification process involving the Bundesarchiv, Filmförderungsanstalt, Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum, and officials from the former Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft to secure rights and materials after the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic institutions. Early negotiations involved stakeholders such as the Kulturstiftung der Länder, Senate of Berlin, Bundeskulturstiftung, and representatives from the Bundestag cultural committees. Key figures in the transition included archivists who had worked at the Staatliches Filmarchiv der DDR and scholars from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, University of Leipzig, and the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. International partners such as the British Film Institute, Cinémathèque Française, Library of Congress, Deutsche Kinemathek, and the European Film Gateway played advisory roles. Legal settlements referenced precedents from cases involving rights transfers in the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany era and compared practices with the handling of collections from the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Museumsinsel institutions, and the Leipzig Film Museum.
The Foundation’s mission aligns with objectives articulated by the Council of Europe, the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, and the European Audiovisual Observatory to preserve audiovisual heritage. Activities include cataloguing deposits formerly housed at the Staatliches Filmarchiv der DDR, negotiating distribution rights with successors of production companies like Progress Film, and facilitating academic research through cooperation with institutes such as the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Leibniz Association, Deutsches Historisches Museum, and the Deutsches Filminstitut. The Foundation organizes residencies that involve partners like Berlinale institutions, the German Film and Television Academy Berlin, and the European Film College.
Collections comprise feature films, documentaries, animations, newsreels, original negatives, interpositives, production stills, scripts, set designs, and correspondence associated with directors such as Heinz Rühmann, Konrad Wolf, Frank Beyer, Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Käthe Kollwitz (as subject of adaptations), Bertolt Brecht adaptations, and screenwriters tied to the studio’s output. Holdings include materials related to actors and filmmakers like Gustav Fröhlich, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Renate Blume, Angelica Domröse, Ulrich Mühe, Christiane Paul, and technicians associated with the Babelsberg Film Studio. The archive maintains accession records linked to producers, distributors, and festivals such as DEFA-Stiftung collaborators, the Berlin International Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, San Sebastián International Film Festival, and institutions like the Deutsches Filmmuseum.
Restoration projects have been developed in partnership with labs and institutions including the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Murnau-Stiftung, Filmmuseum München, ZDF, ARD, and private restoration facilities used in collaborations with the British Film Institute National Archive, Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, the George Eastman Museum, and the Academy Film Archive. Projects follow standards promoted by bodies like the International Federation of Film Archives and the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes, and have treated cellulose nitrate elements, acetate base issues, and digital intermediate workflows used by companies linked to the European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs network. Notable restorations were screened at venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Hayward Gallery, and national film festivals.
The Foundation curates exhibitions in cooperation with cultural institutions like the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Filmhaus Köln, Kunstforeningen GL STRAND, Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts, Jewish Museum Berlin, and regional cinemas including Kino International and Programmkino. Retrospectives appear at festivals including the Berlinale Forum, Berlinale Classics, IFFR, BFI London Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival. Publications and catalogs are produced with academic presses associated with Wallstein Verlag, S. Fischer Verlag, Rowohlt Verlag, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and journals like Filmkritik, Screen, Journal of Film Preservation, and Quarterly Review of Film and Video. The Foundation’s programming features lectures by scholars from Freie Universität Berlin, University of Potsdam, Technische Universität Berlin, and international academics from Sorbonne University, University of Oxford, Harvard University, and Yale University.
Funding streams include grants and donations from entities such as the German Federal Cultural Foundation, State of Berlin, European Commission cultural programs, private patrons tied to foundations like the Körber Foundation, Walter Benjamin Kolleg, Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, and collaborations with broadcasters including ZDF, Deutsche Welle, and Arte. Governance comprises a board with representatives from institutions like the Bundesarchiv, Deutsche Kinemathek, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Academy of Arts, Berlin, and university appointees from Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen Potsdam and Bauhaus University Weimar. Legal oversight interacts with courts and offices that have handled cultural property issues including the Bundesverfassungsgericht and administrative bodies at the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.
The Foundation’s work has been recognized by awards and honors from cultural bodies such as the European Heritage Label, the German Film Award institutions, acknowledgments from the UNESCO Office, and collaborations with the European Film Academy. Its restorations and exhibitions have influenced scholarship cited at conferences hosted by organizations like ICA, IADA, and have informed museum displays at the Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland and international retrospectives at the Museum of the Moving Image and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. The Foundation is indexed in registries maintained by the International Council on Archives and the Directory of Open Access Repositories.
Category:Film archives Category:Cultural heritage organizations Category:Organizations based in Berlin