More than 30 years after the collapse of the German Democratic Republic, its cinema continues to attract scholarly attention. Documenting Socialism moves beyond the traditionally analyzed feature film production and places East Germany’s documentary cinema at the center of history behind the Iron Curtain. Covering questions of gender, race and sexuality and the complexities of diversity under the political and cultural environments of socialism, the specialist contributions in this volume cohere into an introductory milestone on documentary film production in the GDR.

Seán Allan is Professor of German at the University of St Andrews and holds a Joint Research Professorship in Neuere Deutsche Literaturwissenschaft at the University of Bonn. His publications include Re-Imagining DEFA: East German Cinema in its National and Transnational Contexts (co-edited with Sebastian Heiduschke, Berghahn Books, 2016), Screening Art: Modernism and the Socialist Imaginary in East German Cinema (Berghahn Books, 2019), and Inspiration Bonaparte: German Culture under Napoleonic Occupation (Camden House, 2021).

Sebastian Heiduschke is Professor of World Languages and Cultures at Oregon State University. His film publications include the books East German Cinema: DEFA and Film History (Springer, 2013 in English, 2019 in a Japanese edition), Re-imagining DEFA: East German Cinema in its National and Transnational Contexts (co-edited with Seán Allan, Berghahn Books, 2016), as well as essays in Camera Obscura, Feminist German Studies, German Studies Review, Monatshefte, and various edited collections.

“This impressive collection of scholarly articles charts the tensions and complexities of an East German cinematic genre not easily accessible to English-language viewers…. Highly recommended.” • Choice