From the golden age of television: The case of Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Abstract

The mid-1970s proved a particularly fertile moment in the encounter between cinema and television in West Germany. Focusing on different editorial units at Cologne-based Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), this dossier traces the sense of experimentation at the public service broadcaster. Commissioning editors like Werner Dütsch at the film unit, Angelika Wittlich and the series Telekritik, but also those at the department ‘Language and Literature’ made it possible for critics and film-makers like Harun Farocki to explore essayistic formats and programmes. The dossier combines a retrospective essay by WDR commissioning editor Dütsch, several archival documents from 1974 to 1976, and starts with a contextualising essay by Pantenburg.