Collection
Sieglinde Hamacher

The DEFA Foundation is presenting works by Sieglinde Hamacher to mark the 70th anniversary of the DEFA Studio for Animated Films. The director is considered ‘Dresden's greatest lady of animated film’. In 36 years of working at the DEFA Studio for Animated Films, she created numerous animated short films with an incomparable artistic signature until 1992. She produced a series of films almost single-handedly and without commission, using only a ballpoint pen and typewriter paper at her desk at home.

Hamacher's imagination and ingenuity knew no bounds: paintings come to life as only in Harry Potter, a wolf transforms into a sheep in a bright pink setting, and at an exclusive party, everything goes wrong – even to the point of heads changing bodies. Her works have won numerous awards at major film festivals, including the Berlinale and DOK Leipzig. At times, the filmmaker's often provocative, parabolic narratives were unwelcome in the GDR, and she was forced to make changes demanded by the state. In 1982, her film KONTRASTE was banned.