Heimat (film series)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Heimat is the title of several series of films in 32 episodes written and directed by Edgar Reitz, which view life in Germany between 1840s to 2000 through the eyes of a family from the Hunsrück area of the Rhineland. Personal and domestic life is set against glimpses of wider social and political events. The combined length of the 32 films is 59 hours and 32 minutes, making it one of the longest series of feature-length films in cinema history.
The title Heimat is a German word, often expressed with terms such as "homeland" or "home place", but it has been alleged that the word has no English equivalent. Usage has come to include that of an ironic reference to the film genre known as Heimatfilm which was popular in Germany in the 1950s. Heimat films were characterized by rural settings, sentimental tone and simplistic morality.
Aesthetically, all three series are notable for their frequent switching between color and black-and-white film to convey different emotional states. In 1987, it won a BAFTA for "Foreign Television Programme".
The first film was released in 1984 with a followup in 1993. A direct sequel to the original film was released in 2003. In 2006, a film was released that created a narrative by featuring unused footage and outakes. A prequel film to the original was released in 2013.
See also
- The Village (2013 TV series) set in England and inspired by the series.