Angela’s Augenzeuge: East German Solidarity with Angela Davis Shown Through State-Sponsored Documentaries

Angela Davis is known today as a feminist and advocate against mass incarceration. The trial, People of California vs. Angela Davis, may have been long forgotten in the United States, but the same cannot be said for Germany. In former East Germany, the trial embodies her recognition and current legacy because of State-sponsored documentary and fictional film. In examining the newsreel of East Germany, Augenzeuge (Eyewitness), short form documentary, like Für Angela (For Angela), and the children’s film Willy, Wally, Werner, und das Schweinchen Wurstel fahren zu den Westfeltspielen (Willy, Wally, Werner and the Little Pig Wurstel Travel to the World Youth Festival) my paper argues for possibilities of agency through State sponsored media. Because the GDR’s documentaries were state sponsored, they are often dismissed as propaganda. However, these short form documentaries tell us about East Germans narratives of Davis and their participation in her campaigns. With this complexity in mind, I analyze documentaries of East German solidarity with Angela Davis with an eye to the possibility of personal and meaningful engagement.