German cinema had a Golden Age in the 1920s and 1930s with Lang, Murnau, Pabst and more. The Second World War killed that... but in the 1960s and 1970s, a group of German directors sick of seeing New York and France on screen were bringing it back to life. Among them, such notable names as Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, Rainer Fassbinder.
This brief (thirty minute) exploration of German film shows how the Nazi era was flooded with propaganda films (or at least these are the ones most recalled), but not the art of the previous generation. The 1950s had nothing but bankrupt German studios. And now, it is back thanks to a few auteurs with no budget. As of this writing (2014), the men featured here (in 1976) are still towering figures, especially Herzog.
This is a great history of the German film industry, albeit a brief one. As most people, even those interested in film, are not particularly knowledgeable in German cinema, this could be a bit of an education.
