Exhibiting German film history of the era

A collage of film posters on display

In fact, 'The UFA FILM POSTERS, 1918- 1943' is a traveling exhibition sponsored by the Goethe-Institut and produced by the Filmmuseum Berlin Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin and the Austrian National Library, Vienna.

The graphic styles of the posters in the exhibition range from Expressionist to Art Deco, two major art approaches introduced in the era. The posters evoke the spirit of their turbulent times. The posters are not the mere beautiful and artistic portrayals of great German actors such as Henny Porten, Pola Negri, Emil Jannings, Asta Neilsen and others. Nor are they mere graphic designs, but a representation of the socio-political history of Germany between the two Great World Wars, when German films got a tremendous boost. And the exhibition can be easily distinguished into two parts: posters of the films made from 1918 to 1933 by the great German filmmakers such as Fritz Lang and others, forced into exile after the Hitler regime came to power in 1933.

Posters of the films like Metropolis, The Blue Angel, Madame Dubarry, My Wife the Confidence Woman, The Last Laugh, Carmen, Die Nibelungen and others represent the rich aesthetics in Germany of that period.

As the traveling poster exhibition will be on display in several Asian countries, posters of the films are set against the backdrop of Oriental countries such as One Arabian Night, Car to the Orient, Secrets of the Orient and others. The posters of these movies also represent Arabian culture.

Another part of the exhibition is the posters of the films made between 1933 and 1943-- during the time when Hitler regime used UFA to make propaganda movies such as A Man Wants to Reach Germany, Munchhausen, The Golden City and others.

Torsten Oertel, the director of Goethe Instut, Dhaka, said, "During the selection process of the posters, we basically focused on the aesthetic value of the posters as well as the films. That is why, the posters of the films made before 1933 have been given priority. To represent the history of UFA, a few posters of the entertaining movies made to give relief to the German citizenry during the massacre of the World War II are included. And no posters of the movies portraying German soldiers are on display."

Begun on April 13, the exhibition will be on view until April 26.