University of Massachusetts Amherst: DEFA Film Library Published Fourth Teaching Guide

After publishing Teaching Guides for newly released titles, “Coming Out” (GDR, 1989), “Our Children” (GDR, 1988) and “Biology!” (1990), a fourth guide has been published.

This directory for Peter Kahane’s 1990 classic, “The Architects” (GDR, 1990), a portrait of a young architect whose life, design ideas and goals are strangled by the communist dogma of an older generation, was written by Carol Anne Costabile-Heming, University of North Texas, and Juliane Schlicker, Carleton College, in collaboration with DEFA’s editing team headed by Academic Director Mariana Ivanova.

The DEFA Film Library in collaboration with educators and experts introduced their Teaching Guide series in 2021. The goal is to help teachers and film programmers incorporate DEFA films into their classes, film festivals and programs.

The Teaching Guides not only provides suggestions and resources for teaching activities involving the film, but ample historical background on the film’s production and information about the cast and crew.

DEFA makes these guides available as a free PDF download from their website. The Teaching Guide for The Architects was supported by the DEFA Foundation in Berlin.