The Cold War and Divided Germany in East German Cinematography offers viewers a glimpse of some of the Cold War-era movies produced in former East Germany. The series features five movies released between the years 1950 and 1972, as well as one post-1989 production.

Council of the Gods, based on actual events, tells the story of I.G. Farben, a colossal German industrial corporation that helped supply Hitler's war effort and manufactured the gas used in the Nazi death chambers. Using Nuremberg Trial records, this alarming film deals with the complicity of big business on both sides of the conflict and of scientists whose research contributed to the deaths of millions.

The movie will be introduced by Helmut Morsbach, chair of the DEFA Foundation in Germany and Christian Ostermann, director of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. Joining the post-screening discussion will be: Dolores Augustine, professor, St. Johns University, Hartmut Berghoff, director, German Historical Institute, Stephen Brockmann, professor, Carnegie Mellon University, and Paul Werner Wagner, independent cultural historian.

The event is hosted by the Wilson Center in cooperation with: The DEFA Foundation, Berlin; DEFA Film Library, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Goethe-Institut, Washington, DC; German Historical Institute, Washington, DC; Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington, DC; and The George Washington University.