Film, D-III

Is the film still in existance? My goal is to aquire a copy of the trilogy, no matter how obscure it is. Does anyone have a copy of it, or know where I could find one? Has anyone seen it?

I'm afraid that I do not know of sources for video and I would suspect that the only place for this would be Germany if at all. Where are you from? Film copies may be held in the National Archives in Washington, the trilogy is held in the Imperial War Museum, London on film and there will be copies in the Bundesarchiv, Berlin. Your problem is that these films were banned from screening or other public exhibition by the Allies as being Nazi propoganda (which is undisputed) and are listed as such in the Allied Control Commission list of "Forbidden" films. The current German authorities are similarly sensitive about material from this period and its dissemination for obvious reasons. This hasn't stopped films like Triumph of the Will and the like being sold on video but I think these copies came from the US sources. Their obscurity coupled with their Nazi pedigree therefore makes their screening exceedingly rare outside of universities,archives, conferences and the like (not that I can remember ever being asked to loan a copy) and their broadcasting practically impossible. You can view Pour Le merite and KG Lutzow at the Imperial War Museum but they cannot be copied or copied for use outside of the UK because of copyright agreements which I won't bore you with. D III 88 is held as a Master Copy (we only have one copy and therefore hold this as a safety copy. Screening it may cause damage so until we make another viewing copy, its screening is very difficult. Responsiblity for its primary preservation can be said to lie with the Bundesarchiv. This is a whole different subject!) Even so copying onto a simple VHS would cost somewhere in the region of £400 each.

Cheers, Brad