DEFA Film Library

[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.

BORN IN 45 (1966, dir. Jürgen Böttcher)

Goethe on Demand announcement: “Following the 11th Plenum of the SED Central Committee, BORN IN 45 was banned in its rough cut and completed only after the fall of the Berlin Wall, premiering in 1990 at the Academy of Arts and at the Berlin International Film Festival. From today’s perspective, the ban is surprising, since the film contains no overt criticism of the system. More striking is the film’s aesthetic style: shot entirely on location in East Berlin and inspired by Italian neorealism and the Czech New Wave. The authorities took a particular disliking to the portrayal of young men like Al, who drift aimlessly through life rather than conform to the ideal of the hard-working GDR youth.”

[3/6] The Mystique of Lutz Dammbeck

Clara Mosch Galerie | 57.5 x 81.5 cm | special edition, original screen print on brown packaging paper | 1977 | DEFA Film Library’s poster collection: GDR Avantgarde 1976–86


Lutz Dammbeck created this poster to advertise the opening of the Clara Mosch Gallery in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today: Chemnitz) in East Germany on May 30, 1977. Clara Mosch was an artistic group consisting of visual artists Carlfriedrich Claus, Thomas Ranft, Michael Morgner, Dagmar Ranft-Schinke, and Gregor-Torsten Schade. They came up with the name by creating an acronym of their last names: CLA+RA+MO+SCH.

The group was an influential presence in the East German alternative art scene, and operated from 1977 to 1982, during which they offered spaces for artistic expression unsanctioned by the state. They were not part of the GDR state artists’ union, and so were truly an independent band of artists. The union operated exhibitions and income, so doing independent work was a risk.

The Clara Mosch Gallery was an informal space where the members could exhibit their work, often experimental and trailblazing (paintings, printmaking, graphic art, and the like), but the space was offered to other artists as well. In 1982, due to growing pressure from the GDR state, the group dissolved. Today, the Clara Mosch group is recognized as an exemplar of independent art in East Germany.

The veiled woman in the poster comes from a photograph that Dammbeck and his wife took of a marble bust “In Memory of Haubold Ludwig Wergen” by the sculptor Adam Friedrich Oeser (Grassi Museum in Leipzig). Dammbeck says the motif felt fitting to him as the subject for the newly founded gallery in Karl-Marx-Stadt, in his words, “mysterious, romantic, sphinx-like.” With the woman in the veil as the passport photo, the poster was intentionally designed to look like a standard GDR identity card.

Explore more of Clara Mosch Gallery’s story in the documentary CLAIMING SPACE: EAST GERMANY’S INDEPENDENT ART EXHIBITION SCENE (2009) available on or through 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.”

[2/6] The Mystique of Lutz Dammbeck

REALFilm | 83.5 x 62.5 cm | screen print | 1985 | DEFA Film Library’s poster collection: GDR Avantgarde 1976–86


This poster for the multimedia performance event REALFilm shows Lutz Dammbeck and his collaborator, the pantomime artist and dancer Fine Kwiatkowski, among a haunting net of black paint. Dammbeck employed the technique of Übermalen (painting over), where he paints onto an already existing piece of media. The result is something ancestral and arcane, reflective of the multimedia collage it represents.

The media collage, REALFilm, premiered in 1984 and was performed to a live audience eight times until 1986, bringing them on an entrancing journey. In just under an hour, Dammbeck combined film, drawing, painting, animation, music, photography, and live dance. He wove these elements together into an atemporal, non-linear narrative, where the audience became part of the performance.

The multimedia event in Leipzig at the Haus der Volkskunst on May 14, 1986 was recorded and released on film with the same title as the performance.

This media collage event is one of a handful that Dammbeck worked on, such as La Sarraz (1984) and Hercules (1985); all slots into the Hercules Concept, an overarching long-term art project by Dammbeck.


You can view the filmed documentation REALFILM on and rent or purchase the DVD Art Unleashed: Experiments on Film by Lutz Dammbeck, which includes the film, 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.

THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US (1946, dir. Wolfgang Staudte)

Goethe on Demand announcement: “THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US was the first film shot in Germany after World War II. The production was supported by the Soviet occupying forces and produced by the newly founded DEFA Studio. [Staudte’s film] marked the beginning of German filmmakers’ engagement with a national guilt of immeasurable proportions and their search for atonement.”

[1/6] The Mystique of Lutz Dammbeck

Join us for a look into the work of an eminent (East) German multimedia artist and filmmaker, Lutz Dammbeck! This year, the DEFA Film Library received a donation of more than twenty original posters created by the artist. The poster collection, titled “GDR Avantgarde 1976-1986,” is now part of our LUTZ DAMMBECK COLLECTION that also includes the artist’s 18 films and additional archival materials, including full interviews (filmed and transcribed), and production information about the films. We are excited to share a curated selection from the poster collection in this virtual exhibition.

Celebrated for his experimental and complex media collages and his important role in the (East) German art scene, Dammbeck created posters that are singular, mesmerizing works of art, each with a purpose: from announcing events and planning celebrations to detailing exhibitions and representing his own multimedia productions.

Follow along as we explore the history of one of (East) Germany’s most distinguished avant-garde artists, delving into the posters for the multimedia collage performance REALFilm, for his acclaimed short animation film EINMART, or for the opening of the private gallery Clara Mosch in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today: Chemnitz). The selected posters will showcase the variety of Dammbeck’s style and techniques, exemplifying the truly mystical quality of art Dammbeck has to offer.

This virtual exhibition was curated by the DEFA Film Library’s spring 2026 intern, Beniamino Nardin, who also wrote the texts for the poster exhibition. To differentiate between media collage events and film recordings, we wrote all film titles in capital letters.


Photo: Excerpt from the poster L. Dammbeck Grafik - Film - Plakat Galerie Mitte (Dresden) | 60 x 40 cm | screen print on silver paper | 1982 | DEFA Film Library’s poster collection: GDR Avantgarde 1976–86

📆 Mark your calendar for the 2026 Graduate Student Essay Prize deadline!

Created in honor of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the DEFA Film Studios, this annual monetary prize celebrates excellence in the study of East German cinema. The award is presented each year to the graduate student who writes the most outstanding essay on the subject.

We can’t wait to receive and read your essay. For more information, visit the link in our bio.

🎬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.

JACOB THE LIAR (1974, dir. Frank Beyer)

Goethe on Demand announcement: “JACOB THE LIAR draws on author and scriptwriter Jurek Becker’s own experiences. As a child, Becker survived the Łódź ghetto and later Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He submitted the initial concept for the film to DEFA in 1963, but it was initially ignored. Only the success of the novel that later emerged from the idea led to the screen adaptation – one of DEFA’s most powerful films about humanity, courage and the fragile power of hope.”

We are excited to announce our 2027 Summer Film Institute! Please save the date and check our website for more details and updates in the following months.