23 March 2000 - 2 April 2000

The biography of painter, stage designer, film author and director Artur Pohl (1900 - 1970) is closely intertwined with the political and social breaks of German history. Educated in the social democratic spirit, Pohl sticked to a left-wing attitude for all his life. After he had failed at the theatre in Düsseldorf by the end of the 1920s because his stagings deviated from bourgeois conventions, he tried his luck as a film author. Among others, "Der Tiger von Eschnapur“ and "Das indische Grabmal (1938) are based on his screenplays.
During its research on DEFA history, Filmmuseum Potsdam came across the estate of the versatile artist by the end of the 1990s. Pohl, who lived in (West) Berlin, got a directing contract from DEFA in 1947. His debut was "Die Brücke“ (1949) – the only DEFA film that ever dealt with the problems of resettlers. Later, he dedicated the big-budget production "Die Unbesiegbaren" (1953) to the early history of the SPD. Politically motivated interventions in "Spielbank-Affäre" (an East-West story) escalated to become a scandal and lead to Pohl′s break with DEFA. However, as a "communist suspect" he wasn′t able to gain ground in the FGR.
The exhibition presented items from the estate. Among them were, for the first time, set design sketches from the 1930s. The presentation focused on Pohl′s DEFA years and documented this part of his works with photos, written records, film reviews and awards.