DEFA Film Library

[6/6] The Mystique of Lutz Dammbeck

FILME von J. Böttcher und Lutz Dammbeck | 100 x 68.5 cm | offset lithography and screen print | 1983 | DEFA Film Library’s poster collection: GDR Avantgarde 1976–86


Lutz Dammbeck’s poster describes a joint film screening event with fellow filmmaker Jürgen Böttcher’s works on October 23, 1983. The film screening took place at Filmtheater Prager Straße Studiokino.

The Studiokino was an intimate setting, seating only about 50, used to screen independent arthouse films. The presented 1981 films were Böttcher’s POTTER’S BULL, VENUS BY GIORGIONE and WOMAN AT THE KLAVICHORD, and Dammbeck’s EINMART and HOMAGE TO LA SARRAZ.

As the artist shared with us, the baby in the poster is actually Dammbeck himself “in [his] younger years as taken from the family album!” The practice of Übermalen (painting over) is apparent in the poster, with streaks and blotches of black, matte paint decorating the picture. This is a hint for the films the poster advertises, as both Böttcher and Dammbeck employ this technique, where they take an existing piece of artwork––in Böttcher’s case, postcards of a famous painting, in Dammbek’s case developed film material––and add on their own touch.


To watch these five films, see Jürgen Böttcher’s DVD ART/WORK – Six Shorts or the playlist on and Lutz Dammbeck’s Against the Mainstream: Dammbeck’s Animated Works and HOMAGE TO LA SARRAZ on , or also available on our DVD Art Unleashed. Or get in touch with us!

WATCH ALL OF DIRECTOR LUTZ DAMMBECK’S FILMS ON KANOPY!

For the last few weeks, we have been introducing multimedia artist Lutz Dammbeck’s posters to you. Now it’s time to watch his collection of animations, documentaries, and multimedia collages. You can stream Dammbeck’s entire oeuvre, including 19 films, on Kanopy.

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You can also rent and license these films from us for screenings, or purchase the 2-set DVD Art Unleashed: Experiments on Film by Lutz Dammbeck, including five of Dammbeck’s works and extensive bonus materials from our e-store.

[4/6] The Mystique of Lutz Dammbeck

EINMART | 80 x 58 cm | offset lithography with screen print | 1981 | DEFA Film Library’s poster collection: GDR Avantgarde 1976–86


In this unsettling and visually striking poster, we see the main figure of Lutz Dammbeck’s short animation film, EINMART (1981). A disembodied head with short arms where the ears should be, this ‘mutant’ lives among others of its kind on a fantastical, sealed planet. The Dominator, a massive, sinister birdman, roams the land, an oppressive and inescapable force in the film’s environment.

The film is a mythical, otherworldly journey where Dammbeck weaves a masterfully rich visual tale, a surreal and indelible masterpiece of animation and storytelling. The film was controversial and was even silently acknowledged to be analogous to the surveillance apparatus of East Germany.

The poster echoes the dark and sinister atmosphere of the preternatural film setting, and upon closer inspection, we see the hatching lines that shade in the character, creating depth and texture, which reflect the deeply beautiful animation work Dammbeck employed in the film itself.

EINMART is available to stream on as part of the collection AGAINST THE MAINSTREAM: LUTZ DAMMBECK’S ANIMATED WORKS or can be rented from us.

🎬STREAM ON GOETHE ON DEMAND

The worldwide Goethe-Institut streaming platform, Goethe on Demand, invites you to watch five [East] German classics. Each of the films represents one decade during DEFA’s active film production era (1946–1992).

Don’t miss this special opportunity to explore some of Germany’s most celebrated cinema.

BERLIN–SCHÖNHAUSER CORNER (1957, dir. Gerhard Klein)

Goethe on Demand announcement: “This is one of DEFA’s most remarkable films of the 1950s, Gerhard Klein’s if openly inspired by neorealism. Shot entirely on the streets of Berlin rather than in a studio, it features naturalistic dialogue, a documentary-style camera and authentic music – a highly unusual approach for DEFA at the time. While the film largely conforms to the state approved political canon, relying on familiar East-West narratives, it pushes boundaries like no other DEFA film of its era. It portrays young people who resist the official youth programs, listen to Western music and model their clothes and gestures on pop culture. “Why can’t I live the way I want to?” one of them asks – a nuanced depiction of youth rarely seen in the GDR.”