Cinema programs as a source for research on historical film audiences. Berlin 1945–1949

Abstract

In my paper, I analyse programs from cinemas in all four sectors of occupied Berlin from 1945 to 1949. I focus primarily on ads. Looking at cinema programs allows me to conduct research on local audiences by taking into consideration the social structure of the German population under occupation, the Berliners’ mobility between the sectors and – if possible – the viewers’ habits before, during and after the screenings. The analysis is based on research done at the archives of the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin. The programs collected from the SDK are not representative in terms of statistics, though. The SDK owns programs from 44 Berlin cinemas from the years 1945–1949 (unfortunately all incomplete) making up approximately 20 percent of all the cinemas in the city during that period. As a result, I examined about 400 programs.