Dorfliebe (Village Love)

In 2010 film director Pamela Meyer-Arndt presented her documentary titled Dorfliebe (Village Love), a film about the changes that have taken place in the village of Berka in northern Thuringia from 1949 to the present. Based on the principle of a long-term study, Meyer-Arndt cinematically presents photo series by the late GDR fashion photographer Ludwig Schirmer, his daughter Ute Mahler and his son-in-law Werner Mahler to create a historic view of the village community. The photo works portray both the idyllic character of village life as well as its gradual, but progressive loss. By contrasting these portraits of the village with her own film footage of Berka today, Meyer-Arndt describes the villager's social interaction and the changes that have occurred in the village community as the political systems have changed.

Writer & Director: Pamela Meyer-Arndt
Director of photography: Peter Badel
Soundrecording: Jürgen Schönhoff
Editor: Gudrun Steinbrück
Producer: Christian Beetz
Production: Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion

TV Premiere: 29 July 2010, 11 pm, MDR (Television-Channel).