© defa Foundation, graphic designer: Kurt Geffers
Director: Kurt Maetzig, Screenplay: Friedrich Wolf, Philipp Gecht based on Richard Sasuly
The film, which traces the path of the IG Farben corporation from its support for Hitler’s election campaign to the post-war period, is based on a sensational documentary by Richard Sasuly published in 1947 and the files of the Nuremberg war crimes trials. The plot centres on CEO Mauch and chemist Dr Scholz. They are jointly responsible for the development of the company, its arms production and poison gas manufacturing, without which neither the war nor the mass extermination in the concentration camps would have been possible. Privy Councillor Mauch is concerned with expansion and profit at any price. Dr Scholz is a follower who closes his eyes to the truth out of fear for his position and family. It is not until 1948 that Scholz breaks his silence when a devastating explosion in Ludwigshafen proves that the company is once again dealing in explosives despite the ban.
Film text: Friedrich Wolf: Filmerzählungen (Film Narratives). Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag 1959 (treatment). – Also: Der Rat der Götter (The Council of the Gods). Retold from the DEFA film of the same name by Franz Fabian. Berlin: Deutscher Filmverlag 1950.
(Source: The Second Life of Babelsberg Film City. DEFA Feature Films 1946–1992)
Supporting programme and introductory lecture on Hanns Eisler, composer of the film music for ‘Der Rat der Götter’ (The Council of the Gods), film screening.
In cooperation with the Institute of Musicology, the International Hanns Eisler Society Berlin and the Academic Workers’ Choir
On 26 January 2026, Frankfurt am Main, pupille. kino in der uni, 8:15 p.m.