Wilhelm Pieck – Das Leben unseres Präsidenten

Wilhelm Pieck - Das Leben unseres Präsidenten
VHS cover
Directed by	Andrew Thorndike
Written by	Andrew Thorndike, Otto Winzer[1]
Music by	Hanns Eisler[2]
Distributed by	VEB DEFA Studio für Wochenschau und Dokumentarfilme
Release dates	1952
Running time	80 minutes
Country	East Germany
Language	German

Wilhelm Pieck – Das Leben unseres Präsidenten (Wilhelm Pieck: the Life of Our President) is a 1952 East German documentary film directed by Andrew Thorndike about the life of GDR President Wilhelm Pieck. It opened on 2 January 1952 in the cinemas of East Germany and East Berlin. The film consists mainly of still images illustrating Pieck's life and related German history. There are only a few motion picture sequences, for example Lenin's funeral and the post-1945 period.

Reception

According to Neues Deutschland, run by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the film had "overwhelming success" and the cinemas were sold out.^[3] Der Spiegel commented that the film "covered the last 50 years of Marxist rule".^[4]

In 1951, Wilhelm Pieck – Das Leben unseres Präsidenten was the opening film of Czechoslovakia's German Film Week. Director and screenwriter Andrew Thorndike was awarded the National Prize of East Germany, third class, for the film.^[5]

References

1. Neumeyer, David (January 2014). The Oxford Handbook of Film Music Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-19-532849-3.
2. Beiträge zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung: BZG. Dietz Verlag. 2005. p. 150.
3. "Wilhelm Pieck – Das Leben unseres Präsidenten" (in German). Neues Deutschland. 4 January 1952. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
4. Um 1 "Uhr zu Lenin" Check |url= value (help) (in German). Der Spiegel. 9 January 1952. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
5. "DEFA-Chronik für das Jahr 1952" (in German). DEFA-Chronik. Retrieved 25 February 2015.

External links

• Wilhelm Pieck – Das Leben unseres Präsidenten at the Internet Movie Database