On assembly in Syria
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | On assembly in Syria |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1971 |
| length | 19 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Winfried Young |
| script | Winfried Young |
| production | DEFA studio for short films |
| camera | Hans-Eberhard Leupold |
| cut | Ursula Walter |
| occupation | |
| |
In Syria on assembly is a documentary film by the DEFA studio for short films by Winfried Junge from 1971 , which was made with the support of the National Film Organization of the Syrian Arab Republic .
action
A camera pans over Homs , a Syrian industrial city on the edge of the Syrian desert with around 250,000 inhabitants. The morning shift comes to work in the city's state cotton processing plants. Syria is treading the non-capitalist path, the large companies are nationalized. If you ask the workers about the GDR , they will talk about the six fitters from Karl-Marx-Stadt who are currently assembling Textima spinning machines manufactured in the GDR here . The fitters start to work every morning at 7:00 a.m., drink a cup of tea or smoke a cigarette beforehand, it's the same every day, and then it starts. Up until now, machines have been working in the plant that are decades old and whose productivity no longer meets today's requirements. The German head fitter Manfred Springer is surrounded by ten Syrian fitters who want to learn something from him. Gerhard Hering, who has already installed Textima machines in many countries, and a Syrian colleague are in charge of assembly. Wolfgang Löffler supervises the unpacking of the boxes, which is not easy with a number of over 350 pieces, as well as the allocation of the parts inside. In between, you can smoke a cigarette or drink a cup of tea. The Syrian colleagues are very willing to learn and quickly understand what has been shown to them once or twice, and then they also understand.
The Germans spend their lunch break in a nearby garden restaurant. They know the menu by heart, because there are only four dishes. Shopping after work often costs the fitters a lot of nerves until you have the right one, especially since they do not speak the language. Often they only come home with half of what they set out to do. The negotiations on the market only work with a mixture of English, French, some Arabic and German, using ten fingers and ten toes, as one of the fitters explains. In the accommodation they take on the housewives' tasks and cook their own food, of course they also have their laundry day. Gerhard Hering has it easier, he has his wife with him, because they no longer have any school-age children at home.
The Syrian workers try very hard to get to know how the machines work and when it is already after work. They know very well that one day the Germans will no longer be there and then they will be responsible. Then a boss visit takes place. The General Director of the Works comes to the test run of Textima's first ring spinning machine. After the successful test run, the fitters are invited to have a cup of tea. Ten years ago fitters from the other Germany were still sitting there, but today the Syrian Arab Republic is looking for partners in friendly countries and, last but not least, the Textima machines are also world-class.
Friday is Sunday in the Arab world. It's 100 kilometers to the Mediterranean Sea and the union has organized a bus for a trip there. The news reported that the border with the Israeli- occupied territory was calm for the day . The day ends with a cozy evening with music, singing and dancing, with only the men dancing. The oldest of the fitters had celebrated his 60th birthday in Syria and that was not the first celebration abroad. He loves his job and could not, for example, retrain to become a shoemaker. His wife also understands that he is always traveling, which is why he ends with his motto on the way. He says when he's at home he gets wanderlust and when he is away he's homesick.
Production and publication
In Syria on Montage , a black and white film was shot under the working title Syria II by the artistic working group “Profile”, with the support of the National Film Organization of the Syrian Arab Republic . The premiere took place on October 1, 1971.
Winfried Junge wrote the text. The dramaturgy was in the hands of Reinhard Kettner .