THE FORGOTTEN TREASURE

by Tom Ehrhardt

Germany, Brazil | 2020 | 78 min. | DCP - 16/9 - Color | Germany, Portuguese | Culture, History

Brazilian diplomat Chagas Freitas gradually realizes he has, almost unconsciously, assembled a unique and significant collection of East German art from the Cold War era. Troubled by how culture is treated in Brazil and feeling responsible for this overlooked chapter of art history—now comprising over 1,500 works—he decides to return the collection to Germany. But even thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this art remains under scrutiny. In this compelling documentary, director Tom Ehrhardt sheds light on artists who fought to create freely at a time when art was tightly controlled by the socialist realist doctrine of the GDR’s authoritarian regime.

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