Ausgesetzt, verachtet, gefressen
("Abandoned, Despised, Devoured")
Stories from the pre-Harry-Potter era: The film museum′s new exhibition "Fairyland Babelsberg" deals with DEFA children′s cinema
Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten, by Marion Hartig, 1 June 2005
They are clearly having a tough time, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella or Little Mook. They have been abandoned by the world, left to themselves in hostile forests, bullied around by evil stepmothers, threatened by dangerous wolves. But they don′t give up, and sooner or later they′ll make it, they′ll work their way out of the wood and leave the stepmoms and wolves behind, and eventually, they will end up finding peace and happiness, either as a princess kissed back to live or as happy Little Mook. After all, this is how fairy tales work.
The film museum′s new exhibition "Fairyland Belsberg", which will open its doors to the public tomorrow and be open to visitors until 17 April 2006, has been structured according to this principle as well. The lavish presentation has its visitors set out from the start, from the modest houses of the fairy-tale heroes and heroines. They have been built to resemble fairy-tale crime scenes with suspense guaranteed by pictures, texts, records, books and film excerpts to seduce visitors into fantastic worlds. The dark forest looms in the middle and will have to be crossed before the golden throne room can be reached.
The exhibition focuses on seven filmed fairy tales made after the writings of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen and Wilhelm Hauff, explains curator Ugla Gräf, who is also on the film museum staff. She has assembled classic tales with a simple narration structure so as to meet the cognitive abilities of children aged five to ten years.
At the center of the exhibition is the impressively built forest. Even the "cool kids" used to a variety of TV attractions will not walk through it completely indifferent. The curators and designers brought 150 real ruby-trees into the exhibition hall. They are placed on a dark-red carpet, causing the scenery to appear dimly and a bit intimidating. Those who get lost will find themselves on the soft carpet and maybe on their way to the dwarves′ home, the interior of which has been carefully equipped with seven little chairs on the table, seven little beds and seven trousers hung up for drying. The picture and textboards telling the dark chapters in which the heroes and heroines face death are hung into open trees and consist a particular highlight. Yet, deliverance will be waiting once the wood is crossed – behind the golden curtain.