Produced during the 1950s and 1960s by DEFA, East Germany’s state-run film studio, these re-released classics – being shown throughout Berlin this month – are a lovely way to introduce your offspring (and expats’ kids tend to speak better German than their parents) to the GDR take on fairytales.
Recommended for all ages: Das kalte Herz, DEFA’s first ever coloured release: the story of penniless Peter Munk whose dangerous thirst for wealth leaves him in the grasp of an evil spirit.
A bit more upbeat is the lesson in unaffected, authentic love in Das tapfere Schneiderlein. These people live happily ever after, even if the GDR decidedly did not. German OV!
Re-released DEFA fairytale films, starts Oct 20 | Cinemas throughout Berlin, www.progress-film.de