Along with the rest of UMass Amherst, the DEFA Film Library is closing in an effort to flatten the curve. But our staff will continue to be available via email.

As more and more colleges ...

2020 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the great German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. An untiring compositional innovator, Beethoven was a crucial figure in the transition from the classical to the romantic era in classical music. Afflicted with increasing deafness as of his early 30s, he was also a difficult person and suffered personal and social hardships.

In February 2019, Founding Director Barton Byg officially established the DEFA Film Library Endowment, as a means to support and enhance the mission and activities of the DEFA Film Library at UMass Amherst. In March 2019, he shared some of his thoughts on this important step.

The Founder’s Fund, established in honor of retired founding director Barton Byg, aims to support the work of student researchers interested in East German cinema and DEFA Film Library collections. SEE APPLICATION GUIDELINES!

In September 2019, German director and media artist Lutz Dammbeck will be our artist-in-residence guest and tour the USA with 18 of his documentaries and animation films, which we will make available for rental and educational streaming. Art & Power: Lutz Dammbeck is part of the Deutschlandjahr USA program.

We are pleased to announce the publication of the first volume of our new book series on Film and the Global Cold War! 

The first major solo exhibition in the U.S. by German graphic artist Anke Feuchtenberger. Curated by UMass MFA student Bibiana Medkova, selected works by Feuchtenberger was on display at the Olver Design Building at UMass Amherst from June 26 through July 13, 2018.

We’d like to celebrate our 25th anniversary with you! PLEASE JOIN US! The first 25 people to contact us about screening one of our films at their cinema, cultural institution, university or college in 2018 will get 25% off our regular screening fee!

In the GDR social satire When You're Older, Dear Adam, a boy finds a flashlight that makes people float when they lie. Goethe Zentrum Atlanta hosted this DVD premiere during the 2016 SCMS conference.

Screenwriter and novelist Angel Wagenstein is the link between two films to be screened by the Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival, the DEFA Film Library and Amherst Cinema, April 11-12, 2018. 

As efforts to restore classic DEFA films are in full swing at the DEFA Foundation in Berlin, our collection of restored titles on DCP is keeping up with the newest movie theater technology!

From April 5-16, 2016, the Museum of Modern Art in NYC screened films released in 1966 in both East and West Germany. Four DEFA films were part of this  series that compared different cinematic responses to national and international events and topics.

On May 17, 1946, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany granted a license to the DEFA (Deutsche Film-AG) Studio for the production of films. Only five months later the first DEFA film, The Murderers Are among Us (dir. Wolfgang Staudte), premiered in Berlin and won international recognition—the first German film made after WWII.

On Dec. 13, 2015, director Gerd Kroske presented the US premiere of his film Drawing a Line at Amherst Cinema. 

The long-awaited restoration of Heiner Carow’s The Russians Are Coming (1968/87) was screened as part of the Musuem of Modern Art festival To Save and Project on November 3 and 7, 2016.