What Would Happen If...
Absurdity was a reality in the socialist republics of Eastern Europe until 1989. It was a response to the failures of the public services, to the pretenses, to the feeling of physical confinement. More than in Western Europe, the absurd in the East was a concrete and daily experience. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the liberation of the former "People's Republics", we present works from Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, the former East Germany, the former Czechoslovakia. Most of the films are the first digital restorations. Guest programmer: Gabriel M. Paletz.
Released the year before the building of the Berlin Wall, the East German satire What Would Happen If . . . ? depicts the relocation of the village of Willshagen from East to West Germany. This black-and-white farce exposes the panic and greed of villagers adjusting to the fact that “the good old days” before cooperative farms may soon return. The film portrays the moral accommodation of socialist citizens to new bosses and borders. (Gabriel M. Paletz)
Gérald Klingenberg
Gerhard Klingenberg is an Austrian actor, director and artistic director. He studied acting and directing at the Vienna Conservatory. From 1948 he got his first engagements in the theaters of St. Pölten, Klagenfurt and Innsbruck. He also worked for German television and directed plays and theater recordings. In 1959 he directed the first DEFA and DFF co-production, the crime comedy Spuk. He was then commissioned by DEFA to film What if... The film's premiere was delayed due to ideological concerns and the film was withdrawn from the program after a short period. After directing in Vienna, Klingenberg returned to the Schauspielhaus in Zurich, where he worked as director from 1977 to 1982. From 1986 to 1995 he was director of the Renaissance Theater in Berlin. In addition to his work in the theater, he has worked on numerous television productions as an actor, director and scriptwriter and has also worked as a translator of Shakespeare.
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