Out of Competition

HITLER'S HITPARADE

Hitlers Hitparade



Oliver Axer, Susanne Benze

Country of production: Germany
Year: 2003
Language: German
Mins: 75

Production company: C. Cay Wesnigk Film Produktion with ARTE/ZDF
Producer: C. Cay Wesnigk
Script: Oliver Axer, Susanne Benze
Cinematography: divers Cameraman 1933-45
Editing: Mechthild Bruns
Sound: Horwerek Berlin Ansgar Frerich, Michael Dmoch
Music: divers German composers 1933-45

Source: C. Cay Wesnigk Filmproduktion
HEisterbusch3
D-23611 Bad Schwartau, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 451 28 2286
Fax: +49 (0) 451 28 2223
e-mail: wesnigk@onlinefilm.org


Do seductive propaganda techniques partly explain the riddle of mass German support for Adolf Hitler? Hitler’s Hit Parade uses a brilliant collage of materials (home movies, archival footage, animated and educational films, commercials and political propaganda) to express the false idealism that characterized the Nazis’ rise to power. On the soundtrack are popular tunes, a panoply of music that the average German citizen would have blithely enjoyed as his nation prepared to wreak havoc on much of the world. The film shows how dangerously tempting and engaging the general mood of an era can be. The Nazis relied on escapist entertainment to promote their murderous ideology and bolster the veneer of normalcy during the nightmare of Hitler's reign. Sentimental songs were crammed with code words like "fate" and "homeland" as well as allusions to discipline and obedience, serving as psychological tools to enforce mass conformity.. The film eschews a spoken commentary, instead using Nazi catch phrases to preface segments on idealized Third Reich society.

Portraying themselves as protectors of German traditions and historic continuity, the Nazis promised law and order and national respect at a time of economic despair when Hitler came to power in 1933. Lighthearted entertainment was allowed to flourish to distract Germans from harsh realities of totalitarianism.

Oliver Axer was born in 1962. Author, director.
He received Master of Industrial Design
Company DEUTSCHE MODERNE:
Gallery for German Design 1925 - 40
CD-Label DEUTSCHE MODERNE:
German Dance music of the 30s and 40s

Susanne Benze was born 1963. Author, co-director. She received MA in History and Philosophy at the University of Hannover, specialised in Antisemitism, National Socialism, Film music of the Third Reich.

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2005 AT 5.15 PM. / GALLERY THEATRE
SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 2005 AT 7.00 PM. / CHOPIN THEATRE