Deutschland im Herbst

In autumn 1977, under the strong impression of the attacks by the Red Army Faction, the hijacking of a plane to Mogadishu and the murder of Hanns Martin Schleyer – all of which were a severe test for the inner workings of the Federal Republic – the collective film Deutschland im Herbst (Germany in Autumn) was created in German auteur cinema. The contributions of the individual directors were created independently. Volker Schlöndorff and R. W. Fassbinder delivered the final cut for their parts. The working copy containing the complete montage was kept in Alexander Kluge's editing room under the responsibility of Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus. Kluge's film Die Patriotin (The Patriot), Schlöndorff's Die Ehre der Katharina Blum (The Honour of Katharina Blum, 1975) and Fassbinder's Die dritte Generation (The Third Generation, 1979) were created in the same context. The collective films Der Kandidat (The Candidate, 1980) and Krieg und Frieden (War and Peace, 1982) are continuations of this type of film, which allows for an atypical, very independent and spontaneous production method. (C.S.)