Německé filmové hvězdy v okupované Belgii jako kulturní aktéři (1940-1944)

Many articles and books discuss film stars of the so-called ‘Third Reich’, the movies they played in and/or the ways in which such stars supported the National-Socialist regime, by attending social events, supporting Winterhilfe or performing for German troops. This article expands that focus by looking at the ways in which German film stars were deployed to target foreign audiences. Within the context of his ongoing research on the German reorganization of the Belgian film sector (1940-1944), the author reconstructs the visits that several famous actors or directors (Marika Rökk, Georg Jacoby, Heinz Rühmann, Hertha Feiler, Zarah Leander, Ilse Werner, Hans Steinhoff and Heinrich George) paid to German-occupied Belgium (1940-1944). This reconstruction demonstrates that such visits were welcomed by the German propaganda service in Belgium (Propaganda-Abteilung Belgien), but, all in all, were rarely and sometimes rather hastily organized. The propaganda service and the Belgian branches of the German film distributors Ufa and Tobis seem to have failed to develop a consistent strategy of using German film stars as cultural agents. By extension, the German film producers/distributors do not seem to have developed a similar strategy for (occupied) Europe.

Jaar van publicatie:2019