Interest in the former East German state around the world has possibly never been higher and more widespread. The general devlopment of an interest in movies such as Goodbye Lenin! (2003), Berlin is in Germany (2001) and the highly successful The Lives of Others which won an Academy Award for best foreign langauge film, is evidence enough.

Football in the former East Germany has faced the same issues that most people from the former East have encountered since post-unification Germany became a reality.    Like people, business, cities and towns the clubs have had to regain a firm footing amidst the geographic, political, and cultural displacements of Berlin and the wider East Germany in the 1990s.    Today the only club from the former East Germany who play regularly in the Bundesliga are Hansa Rostock and even then the club has struggled to retain its place each season regularly dropping down to the second tier 2.Bundesliga.

Traditional East German footballing gaints such as Dynamo Berlin, Lokamotiv Leipzig and Dynamo Dresden have has sporadic success in the unified Germany but aside from the Dresden club the other two are now shadows of former instituations.   With Liepzig hosting the DFB and operating as a venue for the 2006 World Cup event the same cannot be said for the East German teams.   Where as prominant East Germans such as Ulf Kirsten, Andreas Thom, Matthias Sammer and Michael Ballack have forged a forefront role for themselves as part of the new Germany, team success is a thing of the past. It may be some time before BFC Dynamo or Dynamo Dresden find themselves celebrating success at the pinnacle in Germany and never again in European competition.    Despite the secrecy, isolation and censorship in East Germany the movie industry centred on East Berlin had been very active pre-1989. Berlin Television and wider radio channels in East Germany were effectively state controlled bodies yet whilst football came under the same secrecy and state ties football was considered as a means of fostering international acceptance of the GDR as a state in its own right. Yet because of censorship a certain number of very remarkable movies were forbidden at this time and these were not reissued or explored further until after 1990.

As The Lives of Others explored so skillfully explored a highly effective secret police force called the Stasi had infiltrated and reported on most private activity including football in East Germany. As well as limiting opportunity for non-sanctioned political organisation it censored literature, artistic expression and as history now tells us ensured that matters on and off the field were seldom fair and without corruption.

Berlin's contribution to the annual film festival diary is well known around the world. The annual Berlin International Film Festival held each year in February is amongst the most popularly attended anywhere and ranks as one of Germany's top media events.   Two months on though and April in Berlin saw the sixth edition of the 11mm Fußballfilmfestival take place at the Babylon Cinema in Mitte in Berlin. With an inquistive interest in the former East Germany still very much alive many took the opportunity to visit Germany and revel in the themes of footballing Ostalgie (“Eastalgia”) that the festival offered.

The event screened a number of films and football shorts which had as a central theme issues concerning football in the former East Germany (GDR). Many of he teams in Eastern Germany  had interesting names.   East German clubs used prefixes which made reference to the industrial landscape of the area such as Chemie (chemical industry), Union, Aufbau (construction), Stahl (steel), Lokomotive (railways), Wismut (ore mining), Empor (meaning “upwards!”), Vorwärts (“forward!”) and Rotation (derived from “rotary press”).    The fans that followed the prominent teams such as Dynamo Dresden, BFC Dynamo and 1.FC Magdeburg were also known for aggressive fan groupings with skinheads and poltical motivations common.

With many of these clubs now playing in the lower reaches of the German football structure it is often forgotten that these clubs, despite East Germany's isolation, had track records of success in cross European footballing competition. 1.FC Magdeburg were winners of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1974 beating AC Milan in a Rotterdam final. This track record of success lasted through to 1987 when Lokamotiv Leipzig contested the final of he same tournament before eventually losing to Ajax.

The nostalgic attraction to the former East Germany is still experienced through those who follow these clubs but the festival itself gives scope to a wider interest in both cinema together with football playing or watching in the former country.  This comes together in an attempt to show that GDR footballing rivalry really existed during isolation.  Movies such as Und Freitags in die Grune Holle (And Fridays in the “Green Hell”) shown with 20 Jahre nach der Hölle (Twenty Years in Hell) express an East German football landscape with roots in the East German federation of trade unions.    

One club of such fame 1. FC Union Berlin cultivated a fierce cross East berlin rivalry with the Stasi-backed Dynamo Berlin. Such was the impact of the original documentary about 1.FC Union it could only be shown in cinemas after former GDR General Secretary Erich Honecker’s resignation in Oct 1989.   In the 20 Jahre movie the directors revisit Union Berlin supporters, who still bond over the club anthem, “Eisern Union,” popularized by German punk songs.

From a fans perspective, Verzeihung, sehen Sie Fussball? roughly translated as Excuse Me, Are You Watching the Football? is a 1983 film which shows a slice of everyday life and living as a football watching citizen in East Berlin. It explored residents in five tenement flats preparing to watch the 1982 World Cup final, Italy v. West Germany.

The great variety of films screened at 11mm Berlin Football Festival shows the social and cultural background of the sport in what is now a defunct country swallowed up by the unified Germany. The many moves and shorts express that at different places and times football can still mean the norm. Themes from state rebellion, wealth and poverty, camaraderie and fanaticism as all explored across the movies. The festival is also accompanied by film talks and question & answer sessions with directors and actors. Discussions with footballers, managers and referees as well as a cultural programmes including readings, exhibitions and installations are also involved.

HB visited for V.I.F©