Transcript German Film, Theatre, and Television

German Film, Theatre,
and Television
By: Dana Ebley
Alaina Willing
Rachel Smith
Theatre
Theatrical Movements
Pre-1500’s
Primarily comedy
 Traveling Passion Plays
 Mythical plays
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Theatrical Movements
The Reformation Period
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Improved schools; leading to theatre
programs in schools
 Religious Plays
• Luther valued religious plays;
such as Church Festival Plays
--spread religious truths
Germanic Theatrical Traditions
Lack of a cultural epicenter, or central
capital city prevented unification of
German Theatre for a long time
 Heavily influenced by British and Dutch
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Prominent German Playwrights
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Christian Friedrich Hebbel
Hermann Sudermann
Gerhart Hauptmann
Gotthold Lessing
Hans Sachs
Heinrich von Kleist
Jakob Ayrer
Julius Roderich Benedix
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Friedrich Schiller
Goethe
Author of:
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Gotz von Berlichingen
Faust
Torquanto Tasso
Schiller
Author of:
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The Robbers
Don Carlos
Maid of Orleans
Bride of Messima
Wilhelm Tell
Theatre in the GDR
Greatly censored
 Became a method for expressing aversion
to GDR despite strict censorship of both
foreign and GDR playwrights
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 Due
to the ability to express concepts without
stating them outright
Theatre as a Moral Institution
Particularly receptive to non-traditional
and contemporary theatre
 Believe theatre should serve as a
commentary on politics and society
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Television
Television System
Dual system
 Public and commercial systems existing
side by side
 Both programs participate in Eurovision’s
International Exchange
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ARD
Association of German Broadcaster
 Made up of eleven regional public
broadcasting corporations
 Governed by state broadcasting boards
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ZDF
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Organized nationally on basis of an
agreement concluded in 1961
 Governed by Television Council
Channels
Smaller number of channels than
American television
 Not numbered like American television;
more like radio stations
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“Third Program”
Television channel operated on a regional
basis by ARD-member stations
 Offers foreign language programs,
education classes, and broadcasts aimed
at specific audiences
*minority groups
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Advertising
No commercials are permitted in the
middle of a public TV program
 Restricted to about twenty minutes a day
 Commercials are concentrated at
beginning and end of programs
*between 5 pm and 8 pm
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American Entertainment
German-dubbed American series dominate
German prime-time TV
 Many stations broadcast American films
 Offers game shows and talk shows
modeled after American shows
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