A harmless game show or a deep-rooted experiment in re-education? When the game show “Nur nicht nervös werden” (“Don't get nervous”) first aired on West German television in 1960, no one suspected that the seemingly innocent competitions could be based on ideas from American psychiatry. But that is precisely what Joachim Fuchsberger, the host of the show at the time, claimed years later in an ARD talk show. When asked about the origins of the game mechanics, he provocatively retorted: “A crazy, mentally disturbed nation” – a sentence that raises the question of what happened to the Germans, especially the West Germans, after the Second World War. Lutz Dammbeck's documentary OVERGAMES follows these traces deep into the history of psychological reeducation programs established in Germany after 1945. With his trademark meticulous research, Dammbeck combines archival material, interviews and analysis in an investigative journey that ranges from the post-war strategies of the Allies to modern mass culture. The film combines the playful elements of an entertainment show with serious questions about the psychological and social transformations that shaped West Germany after 1945. Whether group therapy as a means of social re-education or “gentle” control mechanisms in the name of democratization – OVERGAMES sheds light on how the boundaries between entertainment, manipulation and political agenda become blurred. Dammbeck reveals how concepts from psychiatry and behavioral therapy were incorporated into social programs and influenced the collective psyche of an entire generation. The film was presented at the Dok Leipzig film festival, among others, and its unconventional approach sparked controversial discussions. As in his previous works, Dammbeck questions mechanisms of power and social control without providing simple answers. With OVERGAMES, he succeeds in creating an impressive reflection on the invisible structures that continue to shape our media landscape and
A film about funny and serious games, therapies of re- and self-re-education as well as the history of ideas of the permanent revolution.
A harmless game show or a deep-rooted experiment in re-education? When the game show “Nur nicht nervös werden” (“Don't get nervous”) first aired on West German television in 1960, no one suspected that the seemingly innocent competitions could be based on ideas from American psychiatry. But that is precisely what Joachim Fuchsberger, the host of the show at the time, claimed years later in an ARD talk show. When asked about the origins of the game mechanics, he provocatively retorted: “A crazy, mentally disturbed nation” – a sentence that raises the question of what happened to the Germans, especially the West Germans, after the Second World War.
Lutz Dammbeck's documentary OVERGAMES follows these traces deep into the history of psychological reeducation programs established in Germany after 1945. With his trademark meticulous research, Dammbeck combines archival material, interviews and analysis in an investigative journey that ranges from the post-war strategies of the Allies to modern mass culture. The film combines the playful elements of an entertainment show with serious questions about the psychological and social transformations that shaped West Germany after 1945.
Whether group therapy as a means of social re-education or “gentle” control mechanisms in the name of democratization – OVERGAMES sheds light on how the boundaries between entertainment, manipulation and political agenda become blurred. Dammbeck reveals how concepts from psychiatry and behavioral therapy were incorporated into social programs and influenced the collective psyche of an entire generation.
The film was presented at the Dok Leipzig film festival, among others, and its unconventional approach sparked controversial discussions. As in his previous works, Dammbeck questions mechanisms of power and social control without providing simple answers. With OVERGAMES, he succeeds in creating an impressive reflection on the invisible structures that continue to shape our media landscape and