East Side Story

Summary

East Side Story (Socialist Musicals)

A feature-length documentary about an unknown realm of movie history. As a whole, the Iron Curtain countries were not known for their gaiety or joie de vivre, but between the cracks of stark Socialist realism, there somehow appeared a few films that offered their audiences escape, hope and hit songs - served up with color, elaborate sets, extravagant musical numbers and, sometimes, even Cinemascope and stereo sound.

Were socialist musicals merely a way to make propaganda entertaining? Was it possible to portray socialist realism in a genre that was considered "the most flagrant offspring of the capitalistic pleasure industry?" Is it possible that in this seemingly no-win situation some good films were actually made?

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH