Girls in Wittstock

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Movie
Original title Girls in Wittstock
Country of production GDR
original language German
Publishing year 1975
length 19 minutes
Rod
Director Volker Koepp
script Wolfgang Geier
Volker Koepp
Richard Ritterbusch
production DEFA studio for short films
music Konrad Körner
camera Michael Zausch
cut Barbara Masanetz-Mechelk
chronology

Successor  →
Back in Wittstock

Girls in Wittstock is a documentary film of the DEFA studios for short films by Volker Koepp from the year 1975th

action

Located northwest of Berlin , in the Potsdam district , is the small, manageable city of Wittstock on the Dosse with around 10,000 inhabitants. There is nothing special here, except that the craft is at home here, especially the cloth making trade, which was already strongly represented here in the 19th century. Immediately after the Second World War , the first 14 hand looms began to be produced again. Now, in 1974, built on the site, which is outside the city walls is a new, great work, the VEB upper jersey recite operation "Ernst Lück" where once 3,000 people are working, 1000 there are already.

In 1974 the film team saw the first new tapes put into operation. One of them is Renate, an experienced colleague who comes from the “ Aktivist ” textile factory in Zwickau , was advertised for the company in the north of the GDR and wants to try something new here professionally. She works in the youth shift in which 80 girls around the age of 20 are employed as seamstresses, the average age in the entire company is 23 years. Elsbeth, just called Stupsi by everyone, is 18 years old and already employed in quality control. However, she is not always satisfied with the quality, and she criticizes her recently completed workstation as it has no windows. But she also complains about the relationship between young people, there is a lack of unity and there is still too much clique economy , because otherwise the work would certainly be more fun. Other girls interviewed like it very much in the company, but the aftermath of one of the girls that she has gotten used to it gives a little food for thought. But one can hear from all the statements that there is a lack of unity among them.

At the age of 20, Sabine is now the master of the youth shift, responsible for the girls with whom she has learned. Like most of the workers at the plant, she comes from one of the surrounding villages. Above all, she complains that the promises made by the management of the company are not kept and that, as the manager, she does not get any support, one does not even ask whether she has any problems. Renate says that it was the way it was with Sabine, i.e. H. to the question, do you want to do it and you answer with no, you have to do it anyway. In the meantime Renate is the department head of the entire clothing department and Sabine has been her successor on the assembly line . The experiences Renate had gained in her company in Zwickau are not always valid in Wittstock. What bothers her most is that there are 23 people here, each and every one of whom wants to play the great director, too many want to have something to say, are not open enough and all keep their opinions behind the mountain.

Sabine is ill. Nothing serious, but with Ms. Lange, an older colleague from another band is used as a representative. It is immediately suspected that she is going to be the new shift supervisor and there is some truth to it. After Sabine's return, a meeting is called in which the young people demand that she remain the shift supervisor. The FDJ secretary Edith reports that after the meeting she was told that the opinion of the young people at the meeting was probably wrong, which she immediately contradicts. They just want Sabine not to just be deported. Then there is a discussion with Sabine and Ms. Lange. The result is that Sabine remains shift manager and Ms. Lange works in quality control. Sabine is proud of the support of the band crew, which gives her new courage for the tasks ahead.

As mentioned earlier, the clique economy is a major problem among girls. Those who come from the same village stick together in the company. To counter this, the girls collected money and organized buses to celebrate together. Most of them go dancing in their free time, but in their villages, because in Wittstock it's not fun. For the girls, the Wittstockers are stubborn people who only talk bad things about the girls. But they all want to buy the finished things. When asked about their purchase wishes, the answer comes from three girls, a moped, a motorcycle and one of them wants to buy a man, so they understand fun too. The film ends with a look over the construction site of the OTB.

Production and publication

Girl in Wittstock was shot as a black and white film by the document art work group under the working title Junge Arbeiter . It premiered on September 9, 1975.

The dramaturgy was in the hands of Wolfgang Geier.

This film is the first part of a seven-part long-term documentary that was not originally planned as such.

criticism

Horst Knietzsch wrote in New Germany

“The girls are critical, they know that the quality of their work is sometimes not the best, they are dissatisfied that there are still cliques in their shift that stand in the way of the formation of a real collective, they also die not heart presses if they do not agree with the management work. This honesty, this basic democratic feeling of people in the socialist society makes this film stimulating, also gives the viewer questions that he has to answer for himself. "

The lexicon of international film says:

"Snapshots that condense into a sensitive study of female self-confidence and grassroots democracy in the GDR."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Neues Deutschland from July 16, 1976, p. 4
  2. ^ Girls in Wittstock. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 15, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used