Culver City,
California
x
Schweidern/Leipzig
Maker: Hoffman Family
Date Made: 1950s - 1960s
Country: German Democratic Republic
Materials: 8mm; silent; b&w and color
Duration: 13:00
Collection/Series: Hoffman Home Movie Collection
Accession Number: 2009.032.007
Home movie filmed in Leipzig, East Germany. [in b&w] High-angle view of city square; Leipzig’s Michaelmas or North Church just visible in the distance. Bird’s-eye view of two schoolchildren with satchels crossing cobblestoned street and entering building. Mother sits at table set for tea or coffee. Daughter and son ride scooters along sidewalk. Mother shakes out duvets and makes bed. Father smokes while working at desk. Family sits at table drinking tea or coffee and smiling at camera. [approximately ten years seem to have elapsed] Mother works at typewriter with teenage son beside her. He seems to dictate to her from a sheet of paper; they converse. Daughter sews at table near window. Close-ups of small shelf with knickknacks. Brief close-up of shoes and trouser legs against carpet followed by extreme close-ups of daughter’s hands and face as she sews. [switches to color at 8:31] Views of Leipzig’s Old City Hall and its clock tower. Extreme close-up of cobblestones. View of the Leipzig Trade Fair office building (built 1965) with “Leipziger Messeamt” sign visible. A red mushroom-shaped kiosk or pavilion bearing the logo “LVZ” (for the newspaper Leipziger Volkszeitung) displays Trabant cars. Father and other pedestrians pass in front of camera.