Peter Nestler (born 1937) is one of the most singular and important filmmakers to emerge in postwar Germany. In the early 1960s Nestler made a series of poetic films about the changing realities in rural and industrial areas and about working class communities, mostly in Germany. Opposition to his political views and film aesthetics led Nestler to Sweden, where he worked mostly for television. Since the 1970s, Nestler has directed an extraordinary body of work further expanding the form and themes of his first films, including history, the working class, anti-fascism, the history of labor and production, and immigration.
Ödenwaldstetten (1964) describes the changes brought by industrialization to a Swabian village in the 1960s, thus evoking West Germany's transformation in the postwar period.
Mülheim (Ruhr) (1964) is a short film without dialogue, edited to music and the rhythms of change in this particular town in the Ruhr region. Shot a few years after the first mining pits were closed in this area, Nestler takes his audience on a journey through mining pits, coal heaps, cold stores, and to workingmen's settlements and pubs. Along the way, the rich contrast between the workers and their employers is explored using fast moving images and quick editing between the two extremes.
Rheinstrom (1965) takes the viewer downstream the Rhine River. The opportunity of cheap water transport kept prices of raw material down and made the Rhine one of the most important arteries of industrial transport in the world. This short film conveys the significance of this waterway to its people.
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