August 3, 2025
The Silent Star: 1960 East German Sci-Fi & the Space Race
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*About this episode
As always there are spoilers ahead! In 1951 Poland, during its Stalinist era, acclaimed science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem released his first book: The Astronauts. (He had already written the novel The Man from Mars which was serialised). In 1960 The Astronuats would go on to become the basis of East Germany's ambitious communist sci-fi film Der schweigende Stern or The Silent Star. The script would go through 12 drafts before filming by which time Lem had removed his name from the project. Although the script lacks focus it is full of historical and cultural significance and is a strong an indictment of why ideological control should not be asserted on the arts. The film is idealistic, looks great with some beautiful design and does not feature Christopher Nolan (link to Instagram post). I have two top notch academics to discuss the film. Sonja Fritzsche is a professor of German Studies and Senior Associate Dean at Michigan State University. She has also written/edited many books about science fiction. Evan Torner is an Associate Professor of German Studies and Niehoff Professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:53 Post Metropolis German Sci-Fi 09:50 East German filmmaking in 1960: DEFA, Kurt Maetzig & Utopian futures 16:34 The Bitterfelder Weg programme: the working class in the arts 18:50 The Polish influence: Stanislaw Lem, ideological space & the Polish October 24:31 12 drafts of the scripts: Too many cooks 29:24 Influences: Forbidden Planet, Woman in the Moon and If All the Guys in the World 32:03 The communist ideal in spaaaace! 38:32 Visual delights: Box office draw and Nazi Agfacolor 45:11 The stolen US edit: First Spaceship on Venus 47:15 Legacy, language and recommendations NEXT EPISODE! Back to Blighty for some good old fashioned evil children in Village of the Damned (1960). The film is easy to rent or buy on an array of streaming platforms including YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cujvDkHxFcg You can check the Just Watch website for details of where to find it in your region.