DEFA Indianerfilme ("DEFA Indian films") was a series of adventure and western films ("Red Westerns") produced by the GDR DEFA film studio. The name comes from the obsolete term "Indians" for Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Between 1962 and 1983 DEFA produced 14 films of this type, about the resistance of Native Americans against white invaders. A memorable actor in the series was Yugoslavian (Serbian) actor Gojko Mitic portraying fictional Native Americans ("Indians"), "Winnetou of the East", who played in 12 of these films.
The films are searchable in the PROGRESS film database.
Films
Below are the 14 Indianerfilme and a parody.
DEFA division "Roter Kreis"
- 1966: The Sons of Great Bear, based on the novel The Sons of the Great Bear
- 1967: Chingachgook, The Great Serpent
- 1968: Spur des Falken, Trail of the Falcon
- 1969: Weiße Wölfe, White Wolves
- 1970: Tödlicher Irrtum, Fatal error
- 1971: Osceola
- 1972: Tecumseh
- 1973: Apachen, Apaches
- 1974: Ulzana
- 1975:Blood Brothers
- 1978: Severino
DEFA division "Johannisthal"
DEFA division "Berlin"
- 1982: de:Der lange Ritt zur Schule, children's comedy, parodying Indianerfilme
Other "Red Western" films of DEFA
- 1981: de:Sing, Cowboy, sing, a comedy Western
- 1988: de:Präriejäger in Mexiko two-series TV film
See also
References
- Gerd Gemünden, Between Karl May and Karl Marx: The DEFA Indianerfilme (1965-1983), 2001, JSTOR 3137409
- The DEFA’s “Eastern Westerns” (Indianerfilme)
- Philip Decker, The ‘other America’ and its performers: pathways to socialism in the DEFA Indianerfilme
- Jennifer Michaels, Appropriating the “Other” for the Cold War Struggle: DEFA’s Depiction of Native Americans in its Indianerfilme
- ^ DEFA-Indianerfilme. Die Ausstellung zeigt Original-Fotografien der Produktionen aus den Fotoalben der DEFA
- Evan Torner The DEFA Indianerfilm as Artifact of Resistance
- PROGRESS