SELLING DEMOCRACY
After World War II, western European countries received not only economic aid but also cultural and psychological aid from the U.S.
June 1947 marked the start of the Marshall Plan — officially entitled the “European Recovery Program” — which gave 16 European states financial and economic support, including food, raw materials and machines. Yet ideals were also disseminated: by the time the Marshall Plan came to an end in 1952 over 200 films had been produced documenting American aid efforts, motivating self-help and promoting intercultural understanding, democracy and pluralism — and reinforcing boundaries against communist Eastern Europe.
At the same time the films offered very practical introductions to new technologies and forms of agriculture: the spectrum ranged from a European electricity network to the construction of chicken coops.
This year’s Berlin International Film Festival will present a selection of films produced under the Marshall Plan in 10 unique programs.
The retrospective and its films with their emphatic vision of a united Europe not only bring to light present-day parallels; these ambitious works by talented young directors are also still very compelling in their consciousness of form and occasionally light-hearted, imaginative tone. For instance, the Dutch production Houen Zo!, about the reconstruction of Rotterdam, received an award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952. One of the filmmakers, Georg Tressler, later became a very successful German feature film director (Die Halbstarken / The Hooligans): his film Traudls neuer Gemusegarten (Traudl’s New Vegetable Garden) elucidates new methods of cultivation and was one of the many films explicitly aimed at children.
42 films will be screened at the Zeughaus-Kino, Berlin, as part of the series from February 5 to 15. Georg Tressler and others involved in the Marshall Plan film program will speak at accompanying events.
