Supported Productions 2002-2001
In addition to the German-American exchange programs, another important task of the RIAS BERLIN COMMISSION is to support German and American radio and television productions which promote mutual understanding. In 2001/2002 the RIAS BERLIN Commission selected a total of five productions to receive grants.
- Audiostations about the history of Berlin
On August 13, 2001 the 40th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall, the Deutsche Technikmuseum Berlin put audiostations with historic material in central locations all over Berlin. The RIAS BERLIN COMMISSION sponsored one of these very popular audiostations.
- Bonhoeffer (Journey Films)
Bonhoeffer’s works have provided a blueprint for countless individuals to understand the connection between spiritual vocation and the struggle for human rights. Bonhoeffer himself first began to articulate this connection when he traveled to New York City and began visiting Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.
- Berlin-Metamorphoses
Not many cities represent the history of the 20th century as well as Berlin. At the same time Berlin was and is an indicator for German-American relations, as this documentary on past and current metamorphoses of Berlin shows.
- Dissent and Opposition in the GDR — The Burning Wall (Hava Kohav Foundation)
A finishing loan for the final editing made it possible for this documentary by Hava Beller to be premièred at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2002. For her earlier documentary The Restless Conscience about resistance in the Third Reich Hava Beller received an Oscar nomination and the Große Bundesverdienstkreuz.
- Culture as a Weapon — Intellectuals in Exile (CD-ROM by Ernst Martin)
A large number of German intellectuals in exile got together in the German Academy of Arts and Sciences in Exile, established in 1936. Under the presidency of Thomas Mann (literaturesection) and Sigmund Freud (science section), they fought with spiritual weapons against Hitler’s barbarism and for a democratic Germany in a Europe of reconciled nations. As advisors to the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, some also influenced the post-war development of Europe. The fact that former enemies turned into allies, partners and in the end friends in a relatively short time can be attributed to the work of these exiled intellectuals.