New German Cinema

The new wave of German cinema began in 1962 when 24 filmmakers signed the so-called Oberhausen Manifesto. The young filmmakers aimed to make independent films that explored contemporary German society.

The era of New German Cinema lasted from the early 1960s until roughly the mid 1980s. While many of the filmmakers had different interests and artistic styles, they shared a common goal of challenging the status quo of the failing West German film industry. They aimed to raise ghosts of the past, including events of the Nazi period and happenings during the Weimar era, while often exploring politically charged topics. Prominent filmmakers involved in the movement include Reiner Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders.

In their mission to create a new insightful film language, the young German filmmakers reflected their own (often leftist) political stances and radically confronted contemporary issues in their work. This intermingling of art and politics often criticized bourgeois institutions and commented on attempts to reconcile a brutal past, marginalized groups, alienated youth, the limits of a liberal democracy, and journalistic integrity — themes which still resonate 50 years after the signing of the Oberhausen Manifesto.

Germany’s catastrophic defeat in World War II and the subsequent partitioning of the country virtually destroyed its film industry, which had already been corrupted by the Nazis