Image and Film Office

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The Image and Film Office ( Bufa ) was an institution founded during the First World War on January 30, 1917 by the German Supreme Army Command (OHL) to include the medium of film in psychological warfare . The Bufa emerged from the "Military Film and Photo Office " set up on November 1, 1916 at the Foreign Office's news department . The main operator of the establishment of the Bufa was the head of the military office of the Foreign Office, Lieutenant Colonel Hans von Haeften (1870-1937), who also took over the management of the new office.

Tasks and way of working

The tasks of the Bufa, which united all governmental and military film and press departments - the photo and film censorship office , the press office of the General Staff and the film office of the Foreign Office - consisted, among others. a. in the supply of films at home and at the front, the establishment of field cinemas, the use of film companies for productions on behalf of the government, the distribution of the AGFA's raw film material and the distribution of films abroad. The Bufa used war correspondents , produced films and had its own copier .

His entire activity was subject to confidentiality. Some private companies, for example Oskar-Messter-Film GmbH, were incorporated into the Bufa.

Films by Bufa (selection)

Ufa founded

On July 4, 1917, Erich Ludendorff transformed the Bufa into Universum Film AG (UFA), from which DEFA emerged after the end of the Second World War - alongside a number of private West German companies .

Propaganda offices in other countries

During the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian War Press Office was responsible for image and film propaganda, in France the Maison de la Presse , in Great Britain the War Propaganda Bureau and in the USA the Committee on Public Information .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. “With our heroes on the Somme”. Federal Film Archive
  2. "Husaren am Ochridasee (1917)" The German Early Cinema Database:
  3. “Jan Vermeulen. The miller from Flanders ”: bundesarchiv.de , earlycinema.uni-koeln.de , film poster  in the German Digital Library
  4. "Paper Peter". filmportal.de