What would happen, if … ? | Was wäre, wenn …?

UCM.ONE, in collaboration with CineGraph from Hamburg, will be releasing the 1st edition of Edition Cinefest on the Artkeim² label in February 2022. Advance sales will start shortly and the corresponding links can then be found on this page.

The film chosen by the curatorial team is “What would happen, if …?” (German original title: “Was wäre, wenn…?“), a DEFA film from 1960. Gerhard Klingenberg directed this comedy, which features Manfred Krug in one of his first roles, and the screenplay is based on the play of the same name by Hedda Zinner.

Synopsis

In the small village of Willshagen on the inner-German border, mysterious gentlemen appear in a Western car and show great interest in the dilapidated castle. Gossip and speculation flourish, and rumours of a border change circulate. Willshagen is to fall to the Federal Republic, and some expect the count back. Suddenly all the objects stolen from the castle reappear. Some villagers shake their heads at this mischief, others are unsettled. Farmer Gepfert wonders whether he should still join the LPG. His wife and daughter Inge advise him to, while big farmer Dahlke advises him against it and suggests a deal. Inge should marry his son Christian to unite their land. But Inge loves the MTS tractor driver Peter. When the count is due to arrive, pro and con groups are paraded – until a team from DEFA arrives to shoot a film in the castle: that’s the only reason it was renovated!

(Source: The Second Life of the Film City Babelsberg. DEFA Feature Films 1946-1992)

The possible border settlement discussed in the film took place many times after 1945 between East and West. For example, within the framework of the Barber-Lyashchenko Agreement.

About Gerhard Klingenberg

Gerhard Klingenberg was born in Vienna on 11 May 1929 and trained as an actor at the Vienna Conservatory.  From 1948 he received his first engagements at theatres in St. Pölten, Klagenfurt and Innsbruck before joining the Berliner Ensemble in 1956. From 1962 to 1968 he worked at theatres in Cologne, Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg as well as at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, the Zurich Schauspielhaus and the Munich Kammerspiele. From 1968 to 1985 he directed plays at the Burgtheater in Vienna, which he also directed from 1971 to 1976. During this time, Gerhard Klingenberg engaged directors such as Jean-Louis Barrault and Peter Hall. Despite his traditional classical orientation in programming, he brought plays by Tom Stoppard, Thomas Bernhard or Harold Pinter to the Burgtheater stage. Under Klingenberg’s direction, Claus Peymann staged the world premiere of Bernhard’s “Die Jagdgesellschaft“.

Following his directorship in Vienna, Klingenberg returned to the Schauspielhaus Zurich as director from 1977 to 1982 and was then artistic director of the Berlin Renaissance Theatre from 1986 to 1995. Following his work in Berlin, he worked as a freelance director. In addition to his work at the theatre, Klingenberg participated in numerous television productions as an actor, director and scriptwriter and also worked as a Shakespeare translator. Gerhard Klingenberg, father of the director Reinhard Schwabenitzky, born in 1947, lives in Austria as a pensioner.