Kosmiczna historia NRD
A Cosmic History of the GDR

Summary/Abstract: The article is a review of Maciej Peplinski’s book Niebyła utopia. Filmowa fantastyka naukowa w Niemieckiej Republice Demokratycznej [Nonexistent Utopia: Science Fiction Films in the German Democratic Republic] (2024). The author examines a small but noteworthy body of East German utopian films (five titles in total), situating them within the socio-political history of the GDR and the transformations of the country’s film industry. The study is methodologically grounded primarily in an analysis of production culture, drawing on archival sources related to film production, the films themselves, and – to a lesser extent – their reception. The argument developed in the book elucidates both the ideological and financial ambitions of the East German film industry and its structural shortcomings, which ultimately contributed to the failure of the utopian film formula. The author also highlights the international dimension of these utopian films: all five were co-productions and were conceived with the ambition – largely unrealised – of achieving success in foreign markets.

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