DEFA-Stiftung
Happy End: all GDR cinema films in one database
Since its establishment in 1998, the DEFA Foundation has made an important contribution to preserving the cultural memory of GDR cinema. It takes care of the preservation and digitisation of GDR cinema films from almost five decades, promotes German cinematic art and is committed to a public debate on socially relevant topics. With the relaunch of the website, we have reorganised the foundation's offerings and tasks. The centrepiece is the digital film database, which represents part of the national cultural heritage of the GDR.
Perfect script: Our content and communication concept is based on a clear information structure
Reduction to the essentials - that was the core idea that guided us in the redesign of the website: more images, less text. A purist navigation and graphic concept directs users to the website's offerings: information about the foundation, events and film screenings as well as the film database, which can be used to initiate a detailed film search. Moving images on the homepage and generous film stills of DEFA productions already provide a small insight into the large DEFA archive on the website.
From fairy tale films to propagandistic socialist films and the infamous musical comedy "Hot Summer" - the DEFA Foundation preserves the cultural heritage of GDR cinema.
The DEFA Chronicle brings together important milestones in the film policy of the Soviet Occupation Zone/GDR from 1945-1990 in a clear annual chronicle.
TYPO3 - ready for an Oscar
Unbeatable for content-heavy websites: the TYPO3 content management system, which was also used for the DEFA Foundation website. Thanks to its intelligent user roles and easy handling, it facilitates the workflow of the editors and, as an open source-based CMS, can be customised by us to suit your needs.
In order to structure the content of the website in a user-friendly way and make it accessible, we have set up various features: structuring modules such as accordion elements, related content or intelligent auto-completion in free text. Special highlights: the artist search from A-Z and the DEFA chronicle, which summarises important milestones in the film policy of the Soviet Occupation Zone/GDR from 1945-1990 in a clear annual chronicle.
700 feature films, 450 fictional short films, 950 animated films, 2,000 documentaries and much more - go on a discovery tour in the DEFA Foundation's database designed by us.
Great cinema: All GDR cinema films in one database
Searching for films made easy: the centrepiece of the site is the film archive, which acts as a research tool for DEFA cinema films. Are you interested in films from a specific production company or an individual DEFA studio? Or would you like to know which films are based on literary works? Or who directed or composed them? No problem - thanks to a faceted full-text search and differentiated filters, users receive targeted, structured search results. In addition to relevant filmographic information, the detailed pages also offer extensive content information.
