In the First World War soldiers did not just fight with bayonets, artillery and grenades, but also with a movie camera in their hands. Propaganda films were intended to arouse the civilian population's enthusiasm for the war and advertising films called on the people to invest their savings in war bonds. The medium of film assumed great significance and it is not just for this reason that the First World War was considered the first global media event.
In the course of our two-day workshop at the German Historical Museum, we will address the issue of how media was employed in the First World War. You will analyse advertising and propaganda films from Germany and Great Britain and examine original exhibits of the First World War collection at the German Historical Museum. At the end of the workshop, you will have gained a better understanding of the manner in which propaganda was produced during the First World War.
We would very much appreciate if you could search for objects (e.g. an interview, a medal, etc.), film and photographic material from your home country that relates to the First World War and present it to the workshop. We will introduce the workshop in this way. Following this, experts will provide us with input on the subject of ‘Propaganda and the First World War’. Together we will review films from 1914 to 1918 and analyze their impacts and their cinematic narratives. We will then subsequently work on the connections and the contextual links between the films and the history of the First World War based on model exhibits of the permanent exhibition at the German Historical Museum. We will end the workshop by presenting your work results, which we will then discuss.
To participate in the workshop you should have a basic knowledge of the First World War and/or history of film and be fluent in German or English.
Workshop speakers:
Nikolas Doerr & Philippe Carasco, German Historical Museum, Berlin, Externer Link: www.dhm.de