ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel (ZDF television station The Short Televsion Play)
«ZDF television station The Short Televsion Play»

This editorial department, founded by Hajo Schedlich as early as 1962 and directed by Eckart Stein since 1975, is a podium for young makers of films and television programmes and one of the longest-lasting niches for studio and camera films at first, then auteur films in the 70s and, starting with Robert Wilson's 'Video 50' (1978), in the 80s there was also a wide range of video experiments by German and international artists. A video art series was also presented, called 'Time Code'. In the 90s the department made further fundamental moves in developing the idea of theme evenings, of the kind that then became firmly established with the German/French cultural station ARTE (e.g. 'Digital Spirit', a co-operation between Christoph Dreher, Rotraut Pape and Gusztáv Hámos).
The 'Experiment as Programme Commission' can by no means be taken for granted in public service broadcasting today. It is therefore all the more astonishing that about 40 productions were realized in the mid 90s with a budget of about 10 million marks (over 2000 since the department was founded). It is very important to the artists to be able to produce without a prescribed time limit. German artists whose video projects have been promoted include Gerd Conradt, dogfilm, Gusztáv Hámos, Hartmut Jahn, Michael Klier, Medienwerkstatt Freiburg, Jan Peters, Klaus Wyborny. International artists include Derek Jarman, Meredith Monk, Robert Wilson.

Rudolf Frieling