1 April 2019, 11:00, Birkbeck Cinema, and 19:00, Goethe-Institut London For the very first time in the UK, Essay Film Festival presented in full Peter Straschek’s astonishing five-part film-historical series about film personnel working in the German cinema industry who were forced into exile during the Nazi period. This event, dedicated to the memory of Werner Dütsch (1939-2018), foregrounded Straschek as a vital filmmaker and important chronicler of the persecution of filmmakers under the Nazis, as well as the turmoil of escape and living in exile. Based on extensive interviews, shot on 16mm in a series of static long takes, Filmemigration aus Nazideutschland, is one of the most fascinating examples of “film history on film” ever produced. Straschek devoted years to researching the topic and accumulating both film and non-film materials. Apart from some radio features and articles, however, this 290-minute TV programme remains the only published trace of Straschek’s lifelong work on the emigration of film personnel. He had intended to publish a three-volume book, encompassing all available data about 3,000 emigrants originating from the centre and peripheries of film production, but the book never materialised. Films: Film Emigration from Nazi Germany [Filmemigration aus Nazideutschland], Günter Peter Straschek, Germany, 1975, digital, 290 minutes (5 x 58 minutes), German with English subtitles Introduction by Volker Pantenburg (Freie Universität Berlin): “Straschek and Retelling Film History on Television” Part one: Who Was Smart Got Out Quick [Wer klug war, ging schnell raus], Germany, 1975, digital, 58 minutes, German with English subtitles Part two: We Were Startled and Outlawed [Wir waren aufgescheucht und vogelfrei], Germany, 1975, digital, 58 minutes, German with English subtitles Illustrated lecture by Julia Friedrich about the exhibition “Hier und jetzt/Here and Now: Günter Peter Straschek. Emigration-Film-Politics, Museum Ludwig, March-July 2018” Part three: Out of Europe and a Certain Safety [Aus Europa draußen und in einer gewissen Sicherheit], Germany, 1975, digital, 58 minutes, German with English subtitles Part four: Under Palm Trees and Blue Sky [Unter Palmen und blauem Himmel], Germany, 1975, digital, 58 minutes, German with English subtitles Part five: You Never Knew Who You Could Shake Hands With [Man wußte ja nie, wem man die Hand geben konnte], Germany, 1975, digital, 58 minutes, German with English subtitles This event marked the launch of a “TV Essay Dossier” in Critical Studies in Television (“TV Dossier 1: The Case of Westdeutscher Rundfunk, WDR”, Critical Studies in Television, 14:1, 2019, 106-138). In collaboration with Goethe-Institut London, and with support from Austrian Cultural Forum, London.