Das Stahltier

In 1935 the German Reich office of train transportation contracted young filmmaker Willy Zielke to produce a film celebrating the centenary of German railroads. But rather than complying with his employers’ idea of an easily consumable propaganda piece, Zielke made an avant-garde movie, full of technical and aesthetic innovations. Shortly before its release, the movie was banned on grounds of alleged Harm to German reputation: The movie, the party-leaders claimed, did not sufficiently emphasize Germany’s involvement in the invention of the locomotive and furthermore, would, with its rapid cuts and zooms, have the wrong effect on any viewer: people would be too scared of trains to ride them… (DOK.fest München)