On 12 February 1912, the sound of the clapperboard rang for the first time through the Glasatelier (glass-roofed studio) -- Europe's oldest film studio at Babelsberg in Potsdam. Asta Nielsen, Europe's first leading lady, stepped forward for the first take of the (now lost) silent film Der Totentanz. This year, Potsdam celebrates that historic moment by declaring 2011 the Year of Film.
But wait a moment, you say, sharpening your keen powers of observation. Shouldn't the Year of Film then be 2012?
Ah, yes. Except that Potsdam is already gearing up for a huge celebration in 2012 -- the 300th birthday of Frederick II, Emperor of Prussia -- and two momentous occasions may be one too many. Besides, the foundation stone of the Babelsberg studios on the site of what was once a spinning and weaving factory, was actually laid in November 1911 -- thus giving Potsdam a reason to move up the celebration date.
Bärbel Dalichow, head of Potsdam's Film Museum, is delighted that the city can finally draw attention to the star role it has played in European film history. "We are proud to look back on a 100-year history of moving pictures that have moved audiences everywhere," she says.
Babelsberg: the German Dream Factory
No other film studio is so bound up with a country's turbulent history -- cinematic, social, cultural and political. Babelsberg survived a monarchy, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era and the Communist regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Fritz Lang's monumental silent movie Metropolis was filmed here, as was Leni Riefenstahl's propagandist Triumph des Willens or Triumph of the Will (commissioned by Hitler), and Josef von Sternberg's Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), starring Marlene Dietrich. The role of Lola-Lola rocketed Dietrich to international fame and a contract with Paramount Pictures.
From the end of the war till German reunification, Babelsberg was the GDR's film studio, the Deutsche Film AG -- or DEFA, as people still refer to it. During this time the prolific DEFA produced no fewer than 1,240 TV and feature films, including Jakob der Lügner (Jacob the Liar), the only GDR film nominated for an Oscar.
Since 2007, some of the big-name blockbusters have been filmed here: Stephen Daldry's The Reader, Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards, Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, and Roland Emmerich's Anonymous are just a few.
Potsdam 2011: the City of Film
One of the highlights of the year-long celebration is the "Agentennacht" (Night of the Secret Agents) on May 14. The studio, using special effects, recreates history on the Glienicker Brücke (also known as the Bridge of Spies) where US-occupied West Berlin exchanged captured spies with Soviet-occupied Potsdam during the Cold War.
May 21 is Open Day at the Babelsberg campus, where you can explore behind the scenes at all 16 studios, watch 3.000 film crew members at work, and gawk at elaborate props and collection of 250.000 costumes.
Get a unique perspective on Silver Screen history by joining one of Babelsberg's quirky walking tours. Between 16 April and 16 October, the 3-hour tour "Film Stars, Political Borders and the Stalin Villa" takes you into several fascinating homes and buildings connected with political and film history, including the residences of Truman, Churchill and Stalin during the Potsdam Conference (1945).
For more information on the 2011 Potsdam: Jahr des Films events, check their website.
But wait a moment, you say, sharpening your keen powers of observation. Shouldn't the Year of Film then be 2012?
Ah, yes. Except that Potsdam is already gearing up for a huge celebration in 2012 -- the 300th birthday of Frederick II, Emperor of Prussia -- and two momentous occasions may be one too many. Besides, the foundation stone of the Babelsberg studios on the site of what was once a spinning and weaving factory, was actually laid in November 1911 -- thus giving Potsdam a reason to move up the celebration date.
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| Asta Nielsen in her Berlin apartment Photo: Wikimedia Commons |
Babelsberg: the German Dream Factory
No other film studio is so bound up with a country's turbulent history -- cinematic, social, cultural and political. Babelsberg survived a monarchy, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era and the Communist regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Fritz Lang's monumental silent movie Metropolis was filmed here, as was Leni Riefenstahl's propagandist Triumph des Willens or Triumph of the Will (commissioned by Hitler), and Josef von Sternberg's Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), starring Marlene Dietrich. The role of Lola-Lola rocketed Dietrich to international fame and a contract with Paramount Pictures.
Since 2007, some of the big-name blockbusters have been filmed here: Stephen Daldry's The Reader, Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards, Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, and Roland Emmerich's Anonymous are just a few.
Potsdam 2011: the City of Film
One of the highlights of the year-long celebration is the "Agentennacht" (Night of the Secret Agents) on May 14. The studio, using special effects, recreates history on the Glienicker Brücke (also known as the Bridge of Spies) where US-occupied West Berlin exchanged captured spies with Soviet-occupied Potsdam during the Cold War.
May 21 is Open Day at the Babelsberg campus, where you can explore behind the scenes at all 16 studios, watch 3.000 film crew members at work, and gawk at elaborate props and collection of 250.000 costumes.
Get a unique perspective on Silver Screen history by joining one of Babelsberg's quirky walking tours. Between 16 April and 16 October, the 3-hour tour "Film Stars, Political Borders and the Stalin Villa" takes you into several fascinating homes and buildings connected with political and film history, including the residences of Truman, Churchill and Stalin during the Potsdam Conference (1945).
For more information on the 2011 Potsdam: Jahr des Films events, check their website.
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