DEFA to Present Five Environmental-themed Films at the Patagonia International Eco Film Fest in Argentina

The Goethe-Institut Buenos Aires and the DEFA Film Library will present a special section on environmental cinema in East Germany at the Patagonia International Environmental Film Festival (PEFF), Sept. 5-10 in Puerto Madryn City, Chubut, Argentina.<_o3a_p>

The festival, also known as the Patagonia Eco Film Fest, will screen five DEFA films that address environmental issues in East Germany in the 1980s. The program includes the feature film "Farewell Disco" (1989, dir. Rolf Losansky) and the documentary "Memory of a Landscape - For Manuela" (1983, dir. Kurt Tetzlaff), as well as three short animation films.<_o3a_p>

Following the screenings, there will be a Q&A with the audience to contextualize the films within the DEFA Studios' productions and existing environmental policies at the time. The conversation will also bridge today's conflicts with open-cast mining and environmental activism in Argentina.<_o3a_p>

All five films are available for the UMass Amherst community to view on the educational streaming platform kanopy.com and will be featured in the DEFA Film Library's 2025 Summer Film Institute next June.<_o3a_p>

For more information about the festival, visit the 2024 Patagonia Eco Film Fest website.