Elizabeth Ward

@elizabethward
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837 Posts

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellow at the Universität Leipzig researching the use of East German films as cultural diplomacy at film festivals in the West.

Often found in archives, cinemas, and second-hand bookshops.

I write about German cinema, in particular East German film, the Holocaust on film, and historical films.

I have a particular interest in inclusive teaching practices.

Websitehttp://elizabeth-ward.com
Book: East German Film and the Holocausthttps://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/WardEast
Edited Volume: Entertaining German Culturehttps://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/EhrigEntertaining
Current Research Projecthttps://doi.org/10.3030/101065714
Elizabeth WardDec 25, 2024
Merry Christmas, everyone x
Show threadElizabeth WardMay 20, 2024

SPIO = abbreviation for Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft (Head Organisation of the Film Industry)

SPION = spy

Elizabeth WardMay 20, 2024
Reading minutes from meetings between West German government officials and the West German film industry (Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft, SPIO), and one particularly annoyed official is clearly not impressed...
Elizabeth WardMay 5, 2024

I visited the absolutely brilliant Grenzlandmuseum Eichsfeld this week: a museum detailing the Niedersachsen/Thüringen inner-German Cold War border. The impact of division in a farming and Catholic area is absolutely fascinating, and there is a great walk along part of the border.

#museum #ColdWar #Eichsfeld

Elizabeth WardApr 25, 2024

The Conference Programme is out!

Over fifty speakers from Germany, France, the UK, the US and Australia are coming to Rostock next month to discuss "Quo vadis DEFA Research? New Perspectives in the Treatment of East German Film Heritage".

If you would like to join us, visit eastgermancinema.org for details. It is free to attend, but you need to register in advance.

Elizabeth WardApr 11, 2024

I very much enjoyed visiting the Muzeum Kinematografii in Łódź last week.

Part of the exhibition detailed the Łódź Film Museum. One eyewitness recalled taking the entrance exam: "We started the exam with a screening of the film Mary and Napoleon, which lasted two hours. Then we had another two hours to write an economic and organisational analysis of what we saw on the screen."

Elizabeth WardApr 5, 2024
Excited to be in Łódź to discuss the Netflix series “Kleo” at the international conference "Deutsches transnationales Kino" at the University of Łódź, organised by Jakub Gortat and Joanna Bednarska-Kociołek.
Show threadElizabeth WardMar 1, 2024

Another person held here was the wrestler Werner Seelenbinder on account of his communist resistance activities. He was sentenced to death in 1944.

The memorial site is an excellent example of the role and importance memory work being carried out by local communities.

/end

Show threadElizabeth WardMar 1, 2024

#Großbeeren was also the site of an "Arbeitserziehungslager" (a "work education camp"), Stalag III D, Kdo. 82/562, in which 45,000 forced labourers and opponents of National Socialism were imprisoned, of whom approximately 1300 died.

One British person died here: Norbert Exter .

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Show threadElizabeth WardMar 1, 2024

Another site marking the Battle of #Großbeeren is the Bülow Pyramid. Again, the commemorative site is a twentieth-century creation (1906). On the rear of the Bülow-Pyramide is a plaque reading: "Unsere Knochen sollen vor Berlin bleichen, nicht rückwärts!".

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